After furore, Central Railway revokes order to raze Lord Hanuman Temple at Dadar

Highlights

After a massive political and public furore, the Central Railway (CR) has decided to revoke its demolition of an allegedly illegal 80-year-old Lord Hanuman Temple outside the Dadar Railway Station, a top leader said here on Saturday.

Mumbai : After a massive political and public furore, the Central Railway (CR) has decided to revoke its demolition of an allegedly illegal 80-year-old Lord Hanuman Temple outside the Dadar Railway Station, a top leader said here on Saturday.

Former Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha told media persons that he, along with a delegation of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal met the CR authorities and spoke with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to resolve the matter as it threatened to snowball into a major issue.

“Our efforts have succeeded. Today, the Railway Minister has decided to revoke the demolition order on the temples. The people shall be able to worship there as usual. We are also going to conduct an aarti there now,” Lodha said.

On December 4, the CR had abruptly slapped notices to the temples dedicated to Lord Hanuman, Lord Shiva, Lord Dattatreya and Goddess Mahalaxmi, as they were found to be encroaching on CR property, were previously red-flagged by a CAG Report four years ago and a recent Parliamentary Committee also expressed concerns.

The decision kicked off a huge political row with Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray, MPs Sanjay Raut and Priyanka Chaturvedi, slamming the CR and the Bharatiya Janata Party, while Aditya Thackeray announced plans to conduct a ‘maha-aarti’ at the temples today (December 14).

The CR notices to the Hanuman Temple authorities said that the structures were unauthorized, had encroached railway land, and obstructed quick movements of commuters and vehicles, besides hindering railway re-development works. It called upon the temple officials to raze it within seven days failing which the CR would do it and bill the temple authorities for the demolition costs, even as lakhs of commuters can be seen daily bowing their heads and muttering silent prayers before the idols.

Thackeray pounced on the BJP, accusing it of displaying ‘hypocrisy’, seeking votes in the name of Hindutva on one hand and on the other a BJP Minister-led railway ministry issuing a ‘fatwa’ to tear down the temples.

Incidentally, the Dadar Station spanning the CR and Western Railway, along with the Dadar Terminus rank among the busiest in the state, and the Centre has assigned the task of a major redevelopment to the Indian Railway Station Development Corporation Ltd.