The Varkari community residing in Kandivali (W)’s Siddhivinayak SRA society has been struggling to get approval for reconstruction of their 42-year-old ancestral Vitthal Temple demolished during the slum’s rehabilitation. The area’s former member of parliament (MP) Gopal Shetty expressed resentment against the elected representatives of his own political party saying that the party succeeded in constructing Ram Temple in Ayodhya but the local representatives failed to help construction of a small temple.
Trust Accuses Builder of Betrayal After Redevelopment Promises Broken
The members of the Varkari community, who made up more than half of the 251 families residing in the Irani Wadi slum, have been struggling to rebuild their ancestral Vitthal Temple inside the society’s premises after being allegedly conned by the builder. According to the residents, the builder had assured them, at the time of redevelopment, that he will build a grand temple inside the society to house the Vitthal temple, originally built in 1983 by acquiring land for Rs75,000.
The temple’s trust Jnanoba Tukaram Varkari Sampradayik Bhajan Mandal claimed that SRA’s survey report identified the temple as a legal structure and was marked eligible for redevelopment. However, the builder later made a u-turn on his promises and did not provide a temple claiming that there was no temple at the site. While the temple’s trust claimed that it provided all the documents to the slum rehabilitation authority, they were asked to seek permission from the state government.
Since 2016, the trust has been fighting the battle with the builder and SRA for the temple. Even after all the residents received possession of their flats in 2022, they did not stop their battle for the temple and have been running from pillar to post to get all the necessary no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the civic body, local police, traffic police and the fire department.
Residents Still Await State Nod Despite Securing All NOCs
In January, the trust submitted its application to the chief minister’s office, after obtaining all the NOCs, which was later forwarded to urban development department (UDD), where it has been waiting an approval for close to two months.
Former MP Gopal Shetty Slams Own Party’s Inaction
Talking to The Free Press Journal, the temple trust’s deputy secretary Santosh Pise said, “Our fault was that we trusted the builder’s words promising us of a grand temple for our lord. The builder had claimed that he will submit the temple’s documents to the SRA but in reality, he never did. We removed the idols from the temple and placed them in drums full of grains and after so many years, the idols still continue to be in those drums.”
Shetty, who has been assisting the temple trust for more than 1.5 years and has also led multiple morchas taking up the issue, expressed displeasure against the elected representatives of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “The builder is a corporator from my party, his partner is the son of a former BJP MLA, the ward’s last-serving corporator and the incumbent MLA belong to my party and the current ruling government in Maharashtra and at the centre is of my party. It is sad that even after all this, the Vitthal temple is not being rebuilt. We succeeded in our 30-year-long struggle to make a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya only because the Hindus, worshipping small temples across the country, united in the struggle.”
