Protestors demand AMC rebuild demolished temple

A group of people on Thursday gathered in front of the main office of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), demanding that the temple in Paldi which had been demolished be rebuilt. The temple was an illegal one and had encroached upon the footpath, said AMC officials. The demolished Narmadeshwar Mahadev temple had been constructed adjacent to the Scout Bhavan of the civic body's school board.

The group held a protest, asking Mayor Bijal Patel to rebuild the temple at the same place. "The temple is more than 20 years old and was not a hurdle for traffic. There are over 150 other encroachments but they were not damaged or demolished," said Sunil Acharya, one of the protestors.

"We are demanding that the AMC rebuild the temple. It was not a hurdle for anyone. Even the entrance of the road was from the footpath and not main road. It has never created traffic jams, then why was it demolished? We have asked the authorities to rebuild it. The mayor herself is from this ward and how she can be so religiously insensitive?" he asked.

Interestingly, among the protestors, there was a former BJP councillor and MLA Rakesh Shah. The mayor at first accepted the demands and assured the group that the temple would be rebuilt. However, later, she said that she would look into the matter.

"I have heard their demands. Our office will look into the matter and decide on what the best solution can be in such a case," said Patel.