The Allahabad High Court today sought to know what steps were being taken by the Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) against illegal constructions and encroachments near historical monuments situated across Uttar Pradesh.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chancrachud and Justice Yashwant Varma, passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation filed by Manoj Chaudhary, a resident of Meerut district, who has claimed that according to information collated by him with the help of RTI queries, there were 1,694 illegal constructions in the vicinity of archaeological monuments in and around Agra alone.
However, the petitioner has contended that demolition orders have been passed only for 174 of these illegal constructions.
The petitioner has further submitted that the number of illegal constructions around the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort stood at 108 and 130 respectively.
Yet, till date, demolition orders have been passed for only nine illegal constructions close to the Taj Mahal and 30 in the vicinity of the Agra Fort, the petitioner has claimed.
The court directed the ASI to take necessary action with respect to all monuments around which illegal constructions had come up and file an action taken report by the next date of hearing after six weeks.
