Part of 'illegal' building razed in MP village
Authorities dismiss reports of operating madrasa or school
Betul (MP) (PTI): The Betul district administration has demolished an illegal portion of a building for not completing formalities, rejecting reports that rumours of a madrasa or a school being operated from the structure prompted the action.
A team led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ajit Maravi razed the building's shed constructed with iron sheets in Dhaba village under Bhainsdehi tehsil on Tuesday.
The building's owner, Abdul Naeem, and villagers had complained to Betul Collector Narendra Kumar Suryavanshi against the action.
The collector, however, emphasised that the action followed legal provisions, clarifying that neither a school nor a madrasa was operated in the building.
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"The construction (of the building) is completely illegal as a mandatory NOC from the Panchayat was not obtained. The Gram Panchayat had issued three notices to demolish the structure under the Panchayat Raj Act and passed a formal order. If such a large structure is being built, it is essential to follow the rules," Suryavanshi told PTI on Wednesday.
The collector stated that administrative support was requested to remove the encroachment, and it was provided, adding that illegal activities won't be protected.
Naeem said he had constructed the building using his own resources to operate classes from nursery to eighth grade for local children.
According to Naeem, he had submitted an application to the Education Department for permission to operate the school on December 30.
Naeem said he was willing to pay a fine if any violations were committed, but the building should not be demolished under any circumstances. He had threatened to commit suicide if the structure was razed.
Local villagers said a rumour spread that Naeem had built an illegal madrasa and was providing unauthorised education to children.
However, the SDM, Tehsildar, and the Police Station Officer found nothing of the sort during their investigation. Villagers also said that the officials had asked Naeem to obtain an NOC from the Panchayat.
Naeem, however, said he was unaware that a clearance was required from the Panchayat.
He said the Panchayat issued a demolition notice on January 11. However, amid protests by villagers, the Sarpanch hastily issued the NOC for the building.
The collector, meanwhile, said the NOC was written by the Sarpanch, which is not acceptable.
"The NOC should have been signed by the Secretary, as he is the Panchayat's executive," he said.
He emphasised that neither a school nor a madrasa was being operated from the building, and the action followed due to non-compliance with set procedures.
Ramesh alias Sonu Panse, a resident of Dhaba village and a Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) worker, dismissed reports that madrasa-like activities were taking place.
The village has a population of 2,000, including only four Muslim families, he said, adding that locals were against the demolition action as they wanted their children to receive quality education at the local level.
Panse also said that the school was being built with the villagers' consent.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
