Work to remove illegal high minarets of Sultanpur Mosque begins in pilgrimage city Haridwar.

Haridwar . The government of Uttarakhand is continuously taking strict action against illegal construction in the state. The work of removing the unauthorized and illegally constructed high minarets of the mosque under construction in Sultanpur Nagar Panchayat area of ​​pilgrimage city Haridwar district has started.

According to the information, in the year 2020, the construction work of a new and bigger mosque was started in place of the old Jama Masjid. In the year 2025, a video went viral on social media regarding the height of the minaret of the mosque, in which it was claimed that the height was more than the prescribed limit. When the matter gained momentum, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had ordered an investigation. During investigation, the mosque and tall minarets were not found to be as per the standards nor was any permission taken from the district administration or authority for its construction. Then DM Haridwar had issued a notice banning its construction, after which the construction work of the said mosque was stopped.

According to the information, before the construction of this mosque of Sultanpur, its map was not passed and no objection certificate was taken from any other department including Fire Safety and Public Works. Despite this, 250 feet high minarets were erected in the mosque.

It was told that money has been collected by claiming this mosque as the biggest mosque in the state. It should be noted that the Supreme Court has directed in 2009 and 2016 that no religious building or structure can be built without the permission of the District Officer. The reason behind this was that firstly, the religious structure should not be built on government land and every aspect of security should be kept in mind during its construction.

Regarding the construction of Sultanpur Mosque, Haridwar DM Mayur Dixit says that this issue came to his notice last October, when a notice was given and the construction work was stopped there. Now the Mosque Committee itself proposed to remove the minarets, which has been approved by the administration. Considering the height of the minarets, it is possible to remove them manually only, as there is a risk of accident using machines. At present Laksar SDM Anil Shukla is monitoring the removal of the tall minarets of the said mosque.

It is noteworthy that many mosques in the state of Uttarakhand have not taken permission for construction. According to state government data, more than 722 mosques have been constructed in Uttarakhand. Maximum of these 322 mosques are in Haridwar district. There are 155 mosques in Dehradun district, 144 in Udham Singh Nagar and 48 in Nainital district. The special thing is that there is hardly any mosque among these in which grand construction work is not going on. There is a competition going on here to build the tallest minaret or the biggest mosque. Investigation has revealed that permission for the construction of most of the mosques has not been taken. For permission, land, organization registration, details of income and expenditure and other documents have to be shown which many mosque managers do not have. Many of these mosques and tomb-like buildings have been built by illegally occupying government land and then they have been registered with the Waqf Board.