India News | Will Not Tolerate Illegal Constructions, Activities in Coastal Areas: Guj CM on Demolition Drive at Dwarka

Dwarka, Mar 28 (PTI) The Gujarat government will not tolerate any illegal constructions and activities along the coastline in the state, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said on Tuesday while reviewing the mega demolition drive undertaken in Devbhumi Dwarka district.

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A Congress MLA had last week opposed the demolition drive claiming that the district administration had demolished many Muslim religious structures such as mosques in violation of rules during the drive.

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The state government initiated a mega demolition drive a couple of months ago against unauthorised structures on the coast of Devbhumi Dwarka district.

Several illegal structures on government land were razed at Beyt Dwarka island near Okha and at Navadra and Harshad Gandhvi villages during the drive.

After his arrival at Okha during the day, Patel along with Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi and DGP Vikas Sahay took a boat ride to Beyt Dwarka, where he visited the demolition sites and reviewed the work done by the police and revenue department in clearing the land on the island.

The island is crucial spot with regard to the coastal security viewpoint, a government release stated.

Talking to reporters at Beyt Dwarka, the chief minister gave a clear warning that illegal constructions and activities will not be tolerated.

"Gujarat has a 1,600 km long coast. No one should be under the impression that he can carry out illegal activities from here. Such illegal activities will not be tolerated at any cost. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was the Gujarat chief minister, had laid a strong foundation of security in the state. To strengthen it, we will take all legal steps to stop illegal constructions and activities," Patel said.

Illegal constructions had come up on land, which the government had reserved for creating welfare infrastructure for people, Sanghavi said, adding that a mega demolition drive is underway across Gujarat against such illegal construction.

The chief minister also visited Harshad Gandhvi village, where vast tracts of government land was cleared this month through such a demolition drive.

The issue of demolition in Dwarka was discussed in the Assembly last week after Congress legislator Imran Khedawala, in his letter to the chief minister, claimed that the district administration had demolished many Muslim religious structures such as mosques in violation of rules during the drive.

In his response in the House, Sanghavi had said illegal structures in Devbhumi Dwarka were used for hiding drugs.

Narcotics worth Rs 150 crore were recovered from one such place and another drug consignment of Rs 275 crore was seized from a second site in the district, he said.

On Khedawala's claim that poor fishermen living in that region were displaced because of the drive, Sanghavi countered him saying a person cannot be called poor if he lives in a seven-room pucca house on the seashore with a 108 inch television.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)