PNN

New Delhi [India], October 28: The phone call came on Friday. Jagriti Mishra's labourers, who were working on her new animal shelter on agricultural land in Delhi, told her that some people had arrived with a JCB machine. By the time the machine left, the boundary walls of the structure, which were meant to protect a free veterinary hospital for stray animals, were on the ground.

That is how Mishra tells it. She says nobody gave her any prior notice, that the loss is considerable, and that the demolition came after she declined to pay money to a person who approached her about the property. Those are her allegations. They have not been tested, and an inquiry is now under way.

By Monday, the story had a second chapter. Physics Wallah founder Alakh Pandey gave 10 lakh to help her rebuild.

A Shelter in the Making

Mishra works with Street Worldz Trust, which treats and shelters injured and abandoned animals. Her work has earned her a large following online, where she shares the cases she takes on. Her plan for the Delhi site was ambitious but simple. Build a shelter, add a veterinary hospital, and offer treatment free of charge.

Stray animals face a hard life. They are hit by vehicles, fall ill, and rarely have anyone to pay for treatment. A hospital that does not ask for money is a different kind of place. It gives feeders, rescuers and neighbours a place to take an animal they cannot afford to treat.

That was the idea behind the walls. They were the first step in a longer build.

The Days After

The news of the demolition travelled fast. Mishra's followers shared it widely, and within days the civic machinery had moved. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi suspended junior engineer Vikas Kumar Gupta in connection with the demolition. An inquiry into his conduct was ordered, the police were directed to register a case, and the District Magistrate was asked to help Mishra set up the shelter again.

Not all the details are public. The grounds for the suspension have not been set out in full, and the inquiry has yet to report. For now, what exists is an account from Mishra, a set of official actions and a good deal of public interest.

An Unlikely Ally

Pandey came into the story through the same online world that Mishra moves in. He is a native of Prayagraj who started teaching physics on YouTube in 2016. By 2019, the channel had more than two million followers. In 2020, he and Prateek Maheshwari founded Physics Wallah, which listed on the stock exchanges in November 2025 after a 3,480 crore public offering. The company is headquartered in Noida.

His reach among students and parents is considerable. When he takes up a cause, his followers notice. Media reports have noted that he had earlier helped Jitu Munda of Odisha with 10 lakh, after the man's story drew widespread attention online. His support for the Delhi shelter is another example of him acting on what he sees.

The contribution is meant to help rebuild the facility. It will not answer the questions that the inquiry is set to examine. What it does is give Mishra something she could not easily raise on her own at short notice: a large, immediate sum to restart construction.

Why Walls Matter

To someone outside animal welfare, a boundary wall may seem a minor part of a shelter. In practice, it decides whether the site can be used at all. It keeps recovering animals safe, keeps unwanted visitors out and gives the people who work there a sense of security. Without it, the rest of the facility cannot go forward.

Rebuilding means buying materials again, hiring workers again and resetting a schedule that has already been interrupted. A single large contribution can shorten that process by months.

What Comes Next

A date for completion has not been announced. Mishra's immediate task is to restore what was lost and carry on with the shelter and the hospital. The authorities' task is to establish what happened on Friday and who was responsible. Those two tasks will run side by side.

Supporters will watch both. For the animals Mishra looks after, the more urgent question is simpler: when will the gates open?

The answer will depend partly on the inquiry and partly on how quickly the walls can go back up. With 10 lakh now behind the project, the second part looks a good deal more certain than it did a week ago.

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