Supreme court directed Rajasthan government to demolish the encroachments on wetland near Ana Sagar lake including seven wonders park constructed by Ajmer Development Authority(ADA) under smart city project. Petitioner Ashok Malik has called this construction illegal. NGT had already given orders to remove the construction. Supreme Court judges Abhay S Okha and Ujjwal Buen heard the matter and asked that any encroachment on a wetland must go. AAG Tushar Mehta argued on behalf of the government in this case while the petitioner Ashok Malik argued his side himself. The next hearing of this case will be on 7th April, 2025.
Ajmer’s Ana Sagar Lake is a wetland area. Despite this, the Seven Wonders, Chaupati were built here ignoring the rules. A food court was built adjacent to the lake in Luv Kush Udyan. The rules of the green belt were also ignored. Construction work was carried out in the wetland area by ignoring the rules, due to which crores of rupees of the public have been wasted by bearcats and local politicians, which are now proving to be a waste of public money. These seven wonders were built in Ajmer at a cost of crores under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project Smart City. Construction work was also done without rules at Gandhi Memorial and other places.
Following the NGT order, the Rajasthan government will now have to complete the process of relocating or removing the Seven Wonders structures within 6 months. This decision is being considered an important step towards environmental protection and conservation of historical lakes in the state. Also this scam in the name of Smart City Project should be investigated and the culprits should be punished. It also has to be ensured that such negligence does not happen again in the future. The administration should follow the rules and use the public money properly. The environment should not be harmed in the name of development.
