Mosque committee decides to remove makeshift prayer site near Tehri dam in Uttarakhand

A mosque committee has decided to remove a makeshift prayer site near the Tehri dam in Uttarakhand following a request from the administration, days after some Hindu outfits claimed the structure was built on government land and demanded its removal.

The Tehri dam authorities and the state tourism department earlier had issued multiple notices for removal of the tin sheds in Khandkhala. The matter reached the Minority Commission after some Hindu outfits recently demanded their removal.

''Though the matter is pending before the Minority Commission, we have offered to remove the tin sheds from Khandkhala near the dam of our own accord following a request from the administration to maintain communal amity,'' Vasi Jama Masjid Intezamia Committee president Mohammad Usman said on Thursday.

Sub-divisional magistrate Lakshmi Raj Chauhan said that when the administration approached members of the minority community with a request to remove the tin sheds they agreed to vacate the tourism department land in a day or two, and added that everyone should act with restraint in the matter.

Officials said on Thursday that the process to remove the sheds has begun.