Lucknow. In perhaps the biggest action till date, one lakh square meter area of ​​the flow area of ​​Kukrail river was freed from encroachment in just eight days. Akbarnagar, settled illegally for 40 years in the heart of Lucknow, has now become history.

Understanding the pain of the holy Kukrail river turning into a drain, Dainik Jagran ran a continuous news campaign on this since May last year. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not only took cognizance of these news, but also took personal interest and uprooted the web of illegal encroachments.

House given under PM Housing Scheme

Those whose houses were demolished during the campaign have also been rehabilitated in Basant Kunj under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Now there is a plan to beautify the land freed from encroachment in such a way that along with the conservation of Kukrail, its beauty also increases.

Plan to build a river front

Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) has a plan to build a river front on the lines of Sabarmati river. Night safari will be developed. Not only this, tram ways and pathways will also be built here. Kukrail river flows into Gomti river, but illegal encroachments were made in Kukrail river in such a way that it became a drain. 55 drains were also falling into it. Constructions were made here from big showrooms to basements.

Bulldozers were run on 1320 illegal residential constructions

After the Chief Minister's intervention, the LDA, Municipal Corporation, District administration and the police team worked day and night. During the action, the Samajwadi Party tried to give it a political color by protesting, but after not getting any relief from the Supreme Court, the protesters themselves backed off. In the first phase of the action, a total of 1320 illegal residential constructions were bulldozed in Akbar Nagar I and II, and 101 illegal showrooms were also razed to the ground. Three mosques, two madrasas as well as four temples that came under the ambit of illegal occupation were also demolished.

The value of the land freed from encroachment is Rs 1000 crore

LDA Vice President Dr. Indramani Tripathi says that the minimum price of the vacated land is about one thousand crore rupees. Along with the action, PM houses have also been allotted to 1898 people. The belongings of the occupants were transported to Basant Kunj Yojana daily by 42 trucks of the Municipal Corporation and the allottees were given possession there.

CM Yogi had given the order 

The Chief Minister had taken cognizance of the news published in Dainik Jagran on 25 May 2023 and had ordered the removal of illegal encroachments in the Kukrail river area. He had instructed to make it like the Sabarmati Riverfront. For this action, a survey, notice and then an eight-month long battle from the High Court to the Supreme Court had to be fought. While demolishing an average of 120 permanent and large illegal constructions every day, the JCB ov