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Protest Forces Pause on Pune Cantonment Church Demolition

Officials say they paused the drive to avoid a law-and-order clash.

Overview

  • The Pune Cantonment Board stayed a planned demolition until Monday following Friday's large protest outside the Poona Christian Cemetery at Dhobi Ghat.
  • The Board had scheduled an 11 am Friday demolition after a March 23 notice that flagged unauthorised sheds, boundary walls and a stage on Survey Nos. 545–547, and it requested police security for the action.
  • Indian Express reported that PCB CEO Vidyadhar Pawar said the team stood down to prevent a law-and-order problem when a crowd gathered at the site.
  • Church leaders and residents say the March 23 notice reached them only on April 13 and argue the move targets a decades-old worship space that runs education and de-addiction work without disturbing neighbors.
  • The site sits inside a roughly 19-acre British-era cemetery, and cantonment boards that manage land in military areas can order demolitions through notices, often creating sensitive disputes when religious sites are involved.