Archive · 10 Oct 2026
Varanasi Completes Dalmandi Demolition After Year of Protests
Workers have finished removing parts of buildings along Dalmandi Road in Varanasi.
The work is part of a plan to make the road much wider.
The road is 650 metres long and has more than 500 shops nearby.
It will grow from 3–4 metres wide to 17.4 metres wide.
The widened road will end about 300 metres from Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Many local traders and others opposed the work, and protests took place.
The Public Works Department says 187 buildings were demolished, mostly only in part.
Two mosques were completely demolished and four were partly demolished.
Nearly 300 court cases were filed over the demolition, and all have been disposed of.
The Public Works Department says demolition for widening Dalmandi Road has been completed.
The project covers a 650-metre stretch in a busy commercial area with more than 500 shops.
The road is set to widen from 3–4 metres to 17.4 metres, ending about 300 metres from Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Of 187 buildings demolished, 70–75% were partially razed; two mosques were fully demolished and four partially.
The demolition began in October last year and faced protests, opposition, and nearly 300 court cases, all of which have been disposed of.
- Who
- The Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department, which oversaw the demolition; local traders and political parties opposed it.
- What
- Demolition work for widening Dalmandi Road has been completed.
- When
- The work began in October last year and was reported completed after about a year.
- Where
- Dalmandi, near Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.
- Why
- To widen the road from 3–4 metres to 17.4 metres.
Opponents
Project authorities
Demolition and road widening
Opponents
Local traders and political parties opposed the demolition, and protests and court cases followed.
Project authorities
The Public Works Department completed the demolition as part of a project to widen the road to 17.4 metres.
- Road stretch
- 650 metres
- Planned width
- 17.4 metres, up from 3–4 metres
- Nearby shops
- More than 500
- Buildings demolished
- 187; 70–75% were partially razed
- Mosques affected
- Two fully demolished and four partially demolished
- Court cases
- Around 300 were filed; all have been disposed of
- Distance from temple
- The widened stretch will end around 300 metres from Kashi Vishwanath Temple