Markets are closed as Mathura residents protest the proposed Vrindavan Temple Corridor
Five acres of land surrounding the famous temple, which is home to 300 temples and residential structures where people have lived for hundreds of years, will be purchased by the state government.
The Yogi Adityanath administration’s plan to construct a corridor around the well-known Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district, along the lines of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor project in Varanasi, is being fiercely opposed by locals who claim the project will force them to move and disrupt their daily lives. Priests and business owners are using their blood to write letters to the Chief Minister asking him to put the project on hold.
Markets in the neighbourhood have been closed for the past two days, and monks from nearby temples have also shown solidarity for the local populace. The case has been filed and is now being heard by the Allahabad High Court. Later this month, the Supreme Court will also hear the case.
Five acres of land surrounding the famous temple, which is home to 300 temples and residential structures where people have lived for hundreds of years, will be purchased by the state government. The route would apparently require the demolition of these 300 structures.
Residents who are protesting claim that they have been worshipping the deity by constructing temples in their homes for hundreds of years and that tearing them down will harm their religion. Following the High Court’s directive about the corridor, the District Magistrate of Mathura convened an eight-person committee to survey and mark more than 200 buildings in the area of the temple.
The Allahabad High Court had mandated a survey for the corridor on December 20, 2022. Today, the High Court will hear the survey report from the Uttar Pradesh administration.
The most well-known temple in Vrindavan, which is 20 kilometres from Mathura, the town where many people believe Lord Krishna was born, is the Banke Bihari temple.
According to the authorities, the tunnel is required to expand the temple’s capacity and would actually make it simpler for worshippers to get there. The UP government proposed a proposal for the corridor and the rebuilding of the neighbourhood in 2022, and a survey was carried out to identify homes and establishments that may need to be razed
Hema Malini, a BJP member representing Mathura in the Lok Sabha, claimed on Sunday that the corridor would let in more foreign tourists and make it easier for pilgrims to pay their respects to the deity. She had promised that the interests of all stakeholders will be taken into consideration after acknowledging the worries of the traders, priests, and locals.
Hema Malini said in a statement that “the regular influx of foreign tourists will open the road for employment also.”