The Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has rejected the layout plan for the mosque proposed in exchange for the Ram Temple land in Ayodhya. A Right to Information (RTI) response revealed that the mosque’s layout plan was not approved due to the lack of mandatory No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from various government departments.
In accordance with the Supreme Court’s landmark Ayodhya verdict on November 9, 2019, the Uttar Pradesh government allotted five acres of land to the Ayodhya Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque and other facilities. Under this order, on August 3, 2020, the then Ayodhya District Magistrate, Anuj Kumar Jha, transferred five acres of land in Dhannipur village near Ayodhya to the Sunni Central Waqf Board. The mosque trust applied for approval of the layout plan for construction on this land on June 23, 2021. Since then, there has been no progress on the plan’s approval.
References from an RTI activist indicate that the mosque’s layout plan was not approved due to the lack of necessary NOCs from various government departments. Without these certificates, the authority refused to proceed with the plan. This revelation comes at a time when the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, approved under the same Supreme Court decision, is progressing rapidly.
There has been no official statement from the Sunni Central Waqf Board or the Mosque Trust on this issue yet. The Ayodhya Development Authority has not shared any information regarding the further process or timeline in this matter. Following this revelation, it is expected that the Sunni Central Waqf Board and the concerned parties will take necessary steps to expedite the project.
In this regard, Athar Hussain, Secretary of the Mosque Trust, stated that the Supreme Court had ordered the allocation of land for the mosque, and the Uttar Pradesh government allotted the plot to us. I am surprised why government departments did not issue an NOC and why the authority rejected the mosque’s layout plan. However, during a site inspection conducted by the fire department, it was found that the approach road should be 12 meters wide, in accordance with the height of the mosque and hospital building. But on the spot, both approach roads were no more than 6 meters wide, and the main approach road was only about 4 meters wide.
The trust secretary stated that he had not received any official notification regarding the NOC or the rejection. Apart from the fire department’s objection, he was unaware of any objections raised by any other department.
