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Journalism of Courage
SURAT, Jan 25: Bajrang Dal activists on Monday “foiled” two attempts made by the Surat municipal authorities to look into the overnight construction of a Hanuman temple on an SMC-owned plot of land on Balaji Road used to keep garbage bins.
Even as more than a dozen activists of the city unit of the Bajrang Dal kept watch on the temple, office-bearers of the organisation said all attempts to remove the structure would be met with stiff resistance.
The temple came up between midnight Saturday and sunrise on Sunday, after the SMC removed the garbage vats in preparation for a special ceremony at a neighbouring temple.
When Express Newsline contacted Surat Municipal Commissioner S Jagadeesan for his comments on the episode, the civic chief said, “Yes, I have heard that a temple has been built on the land where the waste bins were located. But I have to first take a look at the place myself before we decide what to do”.
He did not specify when he would visit the site or what type of action was being contemplated against the builders of the temple by the civic body.
Jagadeesan said that he had received reports from officials that a temple had been built on Surat Municipal Corporation-owned land. “Some of the reports suggest that the temple is a temporary structure and may be removed at a later stage”, he added.
Meanwhile, “work” at the temple neared completion on Monday, when the Bajrang Dal volunteers painted the structure. Ashwin Modi, president of the city unit of the Bajrang Dal, who was present at the site the entire day, said, “SMC officials came here two times during the day but they were sternly told not to touch the temple. "Bajrang Dal activists will be present here round-the-clock to ensure the safety of the temple”.
He acknowledged, however, that the land did belong to the SMC.
Sources claimed that the Bajrang Dal planned further construction at the spot, including fitting of tiles and creating a larger enclosure for the idol of Lord Hanuman.
While the civic body has been tough with illegal constructions in the past, it remains to be seen how it tackles the most recent encroachment on the Balaji Road.
The approach road to the temple has been closed until January 31, as elaborate religious ceremonies are being held in connection with the installation of an idol at the older Ranchhodji temple, bang next to the newly constructed Hanuman temple.
Incidentally, most of the local people have expressed happiness with the construction of the illegal temple, primarily because a number of pleas to the civic body to remove the garbage dump had gone unheeded.
Apart from residential houses, there are three temples (excluding the newly built one) and a girls’ school in the area.
It was alleged that waste from the Surat General Hospital, too, was dumped in the garbage vats, giving rise to noxious smells that refused to go away from the area for a long time.
