Graveyard committee parts with land for Hosur Road widening

Major hurdle in road widening project at Johnson Market, Richmond Town, has been solved with Shia Muslim community members agreeing to give away a piece of land belonging to the mosque.

Masjid-E-Askari and Shia Graveyard Managing Committee (MSGMC) president Mir Ali Jawad told DH that they are giving away little over 1,000 sqft of mosque land as requested by BBMP.

Earlier too, the mosque had given 4,000 sqft of graveyard land. “With this, the mosque has given little over 5,000 sqft of land for road widening,’’ he said. The committee has already constructed a new compound wall, Jawad said. Agha Khan, one of the prominent members of the Shia committee, welcomed the decision and said that it was being done for the good of members of the general public.

At a function on Sunday, Masjid-E-Askari and Shia Graveyard Managing Committee will symbolically hand over a portion of the property. The road widening is likely to commence on Monday by demolishing the old compound wall of the mosque.

“MSGMC trustee Roshan Ali met me conveying the decision of handing over a part of the mosque’s property,” said Mayor Sampath Raj.

Owners of certain properties in the locality have moved the court against the acquisition. BBMP is negotiating with them to acquire their properties. “As and when we get land, we will start the project in those stretches,” the mayor added. The BBMP came up with the road-widening project about five years ago, for easing traffic congestion on Hosur Road.

It is said the MSGMC has applied for Transfer of Development Right (TDR) seeking the government grant separate land under the TDR scheme.