the bombay high court has ordered municipal corporations in the state to demolish all religious structures constructed after september 2009 on open spaces or on roads the temple was inaugurated in 2013 and the pooja was conducted by ncp leaders chhagan bhujbal and his nephew sameer the residents of the society have demanded compensation from the nmc the nmc has demolished maximum structures in the state nashik the nmc razed the temple under tight police security mumbai is yet to pull down any religious structure thane has demolished only two structures jalgaon seven and pune 45 the residents would be forced to take longer routes to reach home around 70 police personnel and nearly 100 nmc employees including the additional municipal commissioner deputy municipal commissioner encroachment assistant director of town planning deputy engineers of public works department and others were present during the drive many residents who had opposed the construction of the temple had been threatened and some were allegedly also beaten up local residents were in favour of the demolition as the structure had occupied half the road just after a blind turn his brother girish who is a trustee of the temple and the priest were detained in the morning by the upnagar police senior police inspector ashok bhagat said however their plea was rejected by the court a few women also tried to create a commotion by screaming and crying the nashik municipal corporation nmc had shortlisted 85 religious structures in the first phase of its drive the balaji temple constructed on nearly 2500 sq ft had encroached upon nmc land and was also occupying half the road of a housing colony in the vicinity the 50ft tall deepastambh had to be uprooted and the 900kg idol of balaji mahalaxmi and andal had to be lifted with an earthmover he said the first phase of the demolition drive against unauthorised religious structures concluded on friday with the demolition of the balaji devasthan at shikharewadi jogging track in nashik road a civic official said seven idols were removed from the temple before the demolition several political leaders including bjps pravin togadia had visited the temple and their photos had been put up near the entrance incidentally the man behind the construction of the temple kailas mudliyar who recently switched over to the shiv sena from the ncp is on the run after having been booked in an extortion case on thursday night the road in front of the temple would be out of bounds for residents during any religious function the demolition the 30m compound wall of the nearby dharti housing society was damaged five earthmovers and an excavator were used for the demolition some supporters of the temples trustees offered resistance to the demolition but they were kept in check by the police the caretakers of the temple had approached the district court recently appealing against the demolition municipal commissioner abhishek krishna said we have demolished all structures listed in the first phase we will soon