Lucknow, Mar 12 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the removal of all encroachments in the name of religious structures built along the roads.

The state home department has directed the district magistrates and divisional commissioners to remove all the religious places that encroach upon the roads.

The structures built after January 1, 2011 and after will be removed without delay.

Those built before this date will be translocated to private land.

UP Additional Chief Secretary Home Avanish Awasthi gave these directions in his letter to all district chiefs.

The divisional commissioners and district magistrates have been asked to submit their report by March 14, stating how many religious places have been removed after the order.

According to sources, there are thousands of illegal religious structures that have come up on roadsides over the years.

These structures gradually expand and become permanent, adding to further encroachment of land.