The Ayodhya Development Authority has rejected a plan for the construction of a mosque in Dhannipur village, saying that mandatory no-objection certificates from several Uttar Pradesh government departments had not been issued, PTI reported, quoting a reply to a Right to Information query.

The mosque is to be constructed in line with the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute on November 9, 2019. The court had directed the government to acquire five acres of land for a mosque and ruled that the disputed site in Ayodhya be handed over to a government-run trust for the construction of a Ram temple.

The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992, by Hindu extremists who claimed that an ancient Ram temple stood on the site.

The Ram temple was inaugurated in January 2024 in a ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A parcel of land in Dhannipur village of Sohawal tehsil, about 25 km from Ayodhya town, was allotted to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of the mosque, which was expected to begin in 2021.

According to the RTI response received by journalist Om Prakash Singh, the mosque trust’s application submitted on June 23, 2021, was rejected because clearances had not been received from departments such as public works, pollution control, civil aviation, irrigation, revenue, the municipal corporation and fire services.

The development authority’s letter is dated September 16, PTI reported.

The RTI response also said that the mosque trust had deposited around Rs 4 lakh as application and scrutiny fees for the project, PTI reported.

Mosque trust secretary Athar Husain said that the trust had not received any official communication about the rejection, The Times of India reported.

“The Supreme Court has mandated the land for the mosque and the Uttar Pradesh government allotted the plot,” the newspaper quoted Husain as saying. “I am speechless why the government departments have not given no-objection and why the authority has rejected the mosque’s plan.”

He added that during a site inspection, the fire department had said that the approach road to the mosque should be at least 12 metres wide.

The road at the site is only six metres wide and narrows to four metres at the main approach to the mosque, Husain said.

“Apart from the fire department’s objection, I have no idea about the objections of other departments,” he added.