Hisar MC ultimatum to temple, mosque

The Municipal Corporation Hisar (MCH) has served show-cause notices on a temple and a mosque, urging its respective management bodies to remove unauthorised constructions.

It has taken a tough stand on illegal religious structures built in two different public parks of the town and has issued notices to both. The action is being taken under Section 408A of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act.

It asked the management of the temple and the mosque to remove the encroachments within seven days, failing which legal action will be taken, including demolition at the expense of the temple authorities.

The first notice has been sent to a Hanuman temple located at Shalimar Nagar, which is allegedly built illegally on 100 sq yards on MC land. The other notice has been issued to a mosque at Vivek Nagar, which is said to have been constructed in an area of 51 sq yards.

In both cases, the MC has urged the respective authorities to remove the structure themselves and inform the MC office, otherwise the structure will be forcibly removed under the legal process and the parties concerned will be responsible for it.

The notice stated that if the instructions are not followed, there is provision of imposition of fine and legal action.

According to the MC, the action is being taken in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court, under which any kind of illegal religious construction on government land is unacceptable.

Following the notice, the park and temple committee reached out to representatives of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, seeking their support against demolition.

Dr Rajkumar Dhingra, president of the Park Temple Committee, stated, “This temple was built nearly five decades ago. Issuing a demolition notice is wrong, as there is no commercial activity here. The temple is central to the faith of the entire community and is collectively managed by the residents.”