Kali temple razed to make way for GMLR project at Dindoshi

A Kali temple in Dindoshi, Mumbai, was demolished for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road project to ease traffic congestion, with the priest compensated ₹25 lakh.

Mumbai: A Kali temple situated right next to a flyover at Dindoshi in Goregaon (East) was demolished on Friday, to make way for the ambitious Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR). The project will create an important east-west link in Mumbai, connecting the Eastern Express Highway in Mulund to the Western Express Highway in Goregaon, and includes twin tunnels under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Kali temple razed to make way for GMLR project at Dindoshi

The temple, which was causing traffic bottlenecks at this critical spot, has been razed by the P-North ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The temple priest has been paid ₹25 lakh as compensation, according to civic officials.

Explaining why the shrine was demolished, a civic official said a flyover was being built under Phase 3 of the GMLR and a pillar for the construction of a flyover was already in place. The Kali temple was situated opposite the pillar and was obstructing traffic.

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner, P-North ward, said, “We are undertaking road widening work one after another to solve traffic problems in Malad. In addition, we had earlier cleared the entire stretch where the flyover for the GMLR is being built by demolishing structures that were obstructing traffic. However, a Kali Mata temple measuring around 200 sq ft was standing in the middle of the road, creating bottlenecks and traffic congestion.”

Dighavkar said the temple, which was privately owned, was razed by following due process of law. The priest was provided monetary compensation and the idols have been shifted to another location. “Although a sensitive task, the demolition process was completed peacefully. It was done to ease traffic movement in public interest,” he said. The demolition was executed by five assistant engineers and 20 labourers,” he revealed.

“There are four lanes for vehicular traffic from Dindoshi in the GMLR project. Of these, two lanes were shut due to the construction of the pillar for the flyover. The temple was obstructing a third lane,” said a civic official. He added that 250 encroachments had already been removed in the last two years in that area.