Residents want to rename Dadar (East) monorail station to ‘Vitthal Mandir’
Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai South Central, Rahul Shewale and Congress MLA from Wadala, Kalidas Kolambkar, have backed the resident group’s demand.
A couple of months after a railway station at Oshiwara was named ‘Ram Mandir’, there is a growing demand to rename a monorail station in Dadar (East). After a residents’ association in Wadala demanded that the station be renamed “Vitthal Mandir”, political parties have backed the demand and are battling it out to woo the voters in the run up to the BMC election.
Wadala Citizens’ Vigilance Committee has written to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) requesting them to rename Monorail corridor’s station from “Dadar (East)” to “Vitthal Mandi”. “Since the station is bang opposite the replica of the Pandharpur temple in Dadar (East), we have written to MMRDA to change the name to ‘Vitthal Mandir’,” said Gautam Durge, president of the committee.
The citizen group’s movement, that had started in November, has now gathered momentum as it has the backing of elected representatives from the area. Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai South Central, Rahul Shewale and Congress MLA from Wadala, Kalidas Kolambkar, have backed the group’s demand.
Durge added that over 2,500 people from the locality have signed a petition to rename the station. “Kolambkar, too, has signed the petition,” Durge added. According to Durge, Shewale was present at a public meeting held at the temple last month where the MP pledged his support.
“The government should rename the station to Vitthal Mandir as it is a famous landmark in the area. I have written the chief minister and will also speak to Uddhav Thackeray to take up the matter with Devendra Fadnavis,” Shewale told HT. Meanwhile, Kolambkar is also planning to write to Fadnavis. He said, “I have supported their demand and will write to the CM and MMRDA about this soon.”
Meanwhile, MMRDA officials claim that they have not yet finalised the names of the stations on the Phase-II of the country’s only Monorail corridor. “We will look into these demands and take appropriate decision,” said Dilip Kawathkar, a spokesperson for MMRDA.
Also read: Maharashtra govt names Oshiwara railway station Ram Mandir
