Kolhapur administration removes 11 illegal structures from Vishalgad under heavy police security
Kolhapur: The forest department and revenue department of Kolhapur removed 11 structures — seven houses and four shops — from the historic Vishalgad under heavy police security on Saturday.
In July last year, the fort witnessed violence between two groups over the issue of encroachment. There were restrictions for visitors to the fort located in Panhal tehsil of Kolhapur district. The restrictions were relaxed in the last two months.
The administration designated 158 structures on the fort as illegal. Last year, 94 encroachments were removed. Recently, residents removed five encroachments, and 59 encroachments are still there.
The occupants of the structures had moved a petition in the Bombay High Court.
"As per the state govt order, the encroachments were to be removed before May 31. There was heavy rain in the last couple of weeks, and as soon as the weather cleared, we initiated the drive to adhere to the deadline. The forest department removed 11 structures which had no legal stay of any sort from court. The residents cooperated with the teams involved in the drive," Sameer Shingate, sub-divisional officer Panhala told TOI.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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The state govt has ordered removal of encroachments from forts before May 31 to ensure that their sanctity is maintained, and the followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj can visit the forts without inconvenience.
The forest department deployed a staff of 40, the revenue department deployed a similar number of staff, and there were 100 police officials on the ground. In total, around 250 people were involved in the drive.
"We had informed the occupants of the structures in advance, on Friday, that we were going to carry out the drive. For two days, we imposed restrictions. Now, a religious event is approaching in June, for which, after consultations with the police and other departments, we will impose the required restrictions," said Shingate.
The administration allowed visits to the fort between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm, beyond which no one was allowed to stay on the fort after the violence in June last year. A police chowki has been installed at the base to check the details of the visitors.
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