Jamshedpur, Oct. 13: Tension flared up at Shastrinagar in Kadma today over the construction of a community hall with the local MLA fund.

The community hall is supposed to come up next to a Hanuman temple and the protesters alleged that the hall would block the way to the main road in Shastrinagar.

The situation was brought under control due to the timely intervention of police.

The hall would be developed at an estimated cost of around Rs 6.5 lakh.

Though local MLA Sarayu Roy laid the foundation stone about a year ago, the construction of the community hall began today.

Residents of the area started gathering near the Hanuman temple at 11am today. They tried to stall the work saying that they would not let the community hall to come up in the area as it would block the way to the main road.

They threatened the labourers to stop the work. The protesters maintained that it would block the only path that connects the locality with the main road.

“This is the only path that connects the houses on this side of the ground with the main road in Shastrinagar. It would be completely blocked if the community hall come up according to the plan,” said a protester, on condition of anonymity.

Another group of people said the community hall is a long standing demand of the residents and the plan was sanctioned by the legislator on their request.

They said the area does not have a community hall and it would help their problem of holding marriage and other occasions there.

BJP legislator Sarayu Roy agreed that the money was sanctioned by him as the resident of the area wanted a community hall to host functions. He added that it now depends on the district administration to ensure that the hall is constructed.

Police said that a section of residents of that area were against the community hall being constructed near the Hanuman Temple at Shastrinagar from the beginning and today’s episode was a follow up.

“After the construction of the hall would be over, it would block the path that leads to the main road. This will create a problem for the daily commuters. They would have to use another road to reach their houses from the main road.

“Due to the construction of the community hall more than 200 residents would be affected. We have informed the district administration about this problem but they have not taken any action,” said Aslam, a resident of Shastrinagar.

Kadma police said they have decided to stop the construction work for the time being.

“The tension was due to a misunderstanding between the people. They thought the community hall would block the way but according to the plan is not the case. We have intervened and the situation is under control now,” said Manoj Gupta, the officer-in-charge of Kadma police station.

According to the sleuths, they are in touch with the residents of the area and the issue would be solved soon.

Sources close to the police said that residents are also averse to the construction of the hall as they think the place will become a haven for goons and trouble makers.