Hubballi (Karnataka): Despite objection by locals and opposition parties, the Dharwad district administration on Wednesday began the demolition of a section of a dargah in Karnataka's Bairidevarkoppa. The Dargah is located on the side of a highway and the demolition is part of a road widening project, official sad.
Security was beefed up in the area surrounding the Dargah to avoid any untoward incident. Over 200 police officials from Haveri, Karwar, Davanegere, Koppal and Vijayanagar were deployed during the demolition process and placed barricades on the Hubli-Dharwad road.
The movement of vehicles plying on this route has been diverted due to the demolition. Vehicles coming from Dharwad side to Hubballi were routed to Hubballi through APMC and vehicles going from Hubballi to Dharwad were routed to Dharwad via Gamanagatti route from Bairidevarakoppa.
The land was acquired for the implementation of the Dharwad Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project. In 2016, the Dargah Committee had brought a stay order against land acquisition from the Karnataka High Court after which BRTS approached the Court to vacate the stay order. On Friday, the court lifted the stay order and gave permission for the demolition of a portion of the dargah for a developmental project.
Meanwhile, the members of the Dargah Management Board had gone to Belgaum to meet Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to discuss the dargah issue. They informed the Chief Minister that the dargah was not obstructing the BRTS project adding that a large portion of the project has already been completed. However, the BJP-led Karnataka government did not agree with them. Several Congress leaders have expressed their displeasure against the State Government's decision.
