Demolition of Ajmer’s Seven Wonders Park began on Friday, six months after the Supreme Court ordered its removal. The Ajmer Development Authority started dismantling the site ahead of the September 17 deadline set by the district administration.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court had ordered the removal of Ajmer’s Seven Wonders Park for encroaching on Jaipur’s wetlands. Following this, the demolition of the park finally began on Friday, six months after the court’s order.
Acting on the Supreme Court’s directives from March, the Ajmer Development Authority (ADA) began dismantling the popular site ahead of the September 17 deadline outlined in the district administration’s affidavit.
This action follows the court’s decision on March 18, which granted six months for the park’s demolition while addressing concerns about construction within the wetland and green belt surrounding Anasagar Lake in Ajmer.
Additionally, the court instructed the administration to dismantle the food court at Luv-Kush Garden in Vaishali Nagar by April 7, 2025.
Despite these orders, only one statue was relocated, with officials stating that just one company submitted a bid when tenders were issued.
The Seven Wonders Park, constructed under the Ajmer Smart City Project at a cost of approximately Rs 12 crore, was inaugurated in 2022 by then Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
In March 2023, former BJP councillor Ashok Malik filed a writ petition with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), raising concerns about the destruction of wetlands around Anasagar Lake.
Earlier, On August 11 of that year, the NGT ordered the demolition of the park, along with Patel Stadium, Gandhi Smriti Udyan, and the food court, noting that these constructions had encroached upon the wetlands.
This ruling was appealed in the Supreme Court.
During the ongoing legal disputes, Ashok Malik and his son were arrested on November 6, 2023, and later released on bail.
In March 2025, the Supreme Court, which had previously refused to halt the demolition just three months earlier, reaffirmed that the park and the food court must be removed and that the wetlands in Ajmer should be restored.
The bench stated,
“Your modus operandi does not seem to indicate that you want to make Ajmer smart. We wonder how a city can become smart without protecting water bodies and wetlands, and how can cities become smart by encroaching upon them.”