Shirdi bandh to protest against trust’s support for airport

The residents of Shirdi have opposed contribution of Rs100 crore by Shirdi Sansthan for the proposed airport project.

Led by Congress leader Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, the residents observed a bandh even as devotees from all over the country queued up for a darshan on Wednesday.  

The protest followed the chief minister’s call to contribute Rs100 crore for an airport at Shirdi, and the temple trust agreeing to it. All the stalls around the temple and shops and restaurants in town were closed during the bandh.

However, no untoward incident was reported, the police said. 

The bandh came immediately after the trust cancelled the decision of carrying the padukas of Saibaba to London bowing to the pressure of people and leaders in Shirdi. Residents have now demanded that the money be used for development of the town and to provide facilities for devotees. 

However, a section of the residents and some devotees have questioned the opposition, and in doing so, they pointed to the aid given by the trust during the past six years.

The trust board whose term ended on Aug 24, 2010, and which had Vikhe Patil’s son as one of the trustees, has in the past six years donated crores of rupees.

The donations include Rs10 crore for benches to zilla parishad schools in Ahmednagar, Rs11 crore for roads to Shani Singnapur, Rs95 lakh for the tap water scheme in Puntambe and Rahata villages, Rs1 crore to Pandharpur temple, Rs50 lakh each to temples in Kolhapur and Tuljapur.