Over 300 houses to be acquired for Banke Bihari corridor in Mathura

AGRA: A survey for the construction of a corridor around the Banke Bihari Temple began on Tuesday, for which the eight-member committee – tasked to implement the orders of Allahabad high court – marked 325 houses and shops around the temple in the area on Saturday to be acquired for the project.
The committee will evaluate the cost of acquiring these properties, spread in five acres of area around the temple, in next two days.
Meanwhile, local residents are considering legal assistance to save their properties and businesses. “My family has been living in the area for over a 100 years. The survey committee members have placed red arrows on the wall of our house. We were told that our house will be acquired for development of a corridor. Dozens of other houses and shops have also been marked similarly.
We will pursue the matter in Supreme court,” said a local resident who also owns shops in the area. On December 25 last year, in a writ petition related to the Banke Bihari temple, the HC had ordered the district administration to submit a development plan with estimated costs on January 17, 2023. A member of the survey committee said, “325 properties have been identified in the five-acre area around the temple. The cost of acquiring these properties is yet to be ascertained. The committee is required to submit its report within this week to Mathura DM before being forwarded to the state government, which will then submit the estimation of land cost and proposed development plan before the Allahabad high court on January 17.”