We Have Turned Lucknow's Akbarnagar Into Saumitra Van, Says Adityanath In UP Assembly

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday put the Samajwadi Party in the dock while answering in the state assembly on the action taken by the state government on the encroachment of illegal occupants in Lucknow’s Akbarnagar area.

Adityanath, while replying to SP MLA Ravidas Mehrotra from Lucknow Central assembly constituency, said he must know the history of Lucknow which had the confluence of Gomti and Kukrail rivers.

But Akbarnagar, he said, has been in existence since 1984. Most of the construction in it is illegal and this is the reason why it could not stand even in the high court and the Supreme Court, he said.

Adityanath said, “We have rehabilitated those who were wrongly registered by showing fake documents. Now Akbarnagar is not a ‘nagar’, but it has become ‘Saumitra Van’.

The chief minister said to give Lucknow its identity, it has been made ‘Saumitra Van’ in the name of Lord Ram’s younger brother Lakshman. The SP MLA from Lucknow should be happy that the people of Lucknow have made him an MLA and the government is giving the UP capital a night safari, Adityanath said.

He told the MLA that the government is spending money while he is reaping the benefit. He asked Mehrotra to thank the government after getting such a “good scheme”.

Chief Minister Adityanath said, “You should go and see whether Kukrail was a river or a drain. Today you will see a river there, not a drain.

“The campaign for river rejuvenation is going on in the whole country. We do say that water is life, but will we be able to imagine life by destroying it?” he said.

He said on one hand, the SP calls river Gomti a “mother” and on the other hand they turned the entire river into a dirty drain.

“As the MLA of Lucknow, you should laud the government for the efforts being made for the rehabilitation of that river,” he said.

In response to a question, the chief minister said, “Most of the land mafia who cheated the poor were people associated with the Samajwadi Party. We have summoned a full report on the intention of those who have put red marks in Indraprastha Nagar and Pant Nagar.

“If someone has done it with wrong intentions, then his accountability will also be fixed, but if it has been done only for marking as a precaution, then it is to alert people for the rehabilitation of the Kukrail river,” he said.

On June 19, the demolition work of illegal buildings on the river bed of Kukrail river in Akbarnagar was completed.

As many as 1,169 illegal residential properties and over 100 commercial properties were demolished using heavy machinery, including bulldozers.

The demolition work to vacate the illegal encroachment over an area of 24.5 acre land began in December last year.

Over 1,320 illegal structures, including the religious places of both Hindu and Muslim communities, were demolished in the area.

The families living in Akbarnagar who lost their houses have been provided alternate accommodation under the PM Awas Yojna in other parts of the city.

Over 1,800 families of Akbarnagar have received the accommodation, officials had earlier said.