Maharashtra Legislature Passes Proposal to Rename Mumbai Railway Stations
Marine Lines to become Mumbadevi, Charni Road to Girgaon, and Cotton Green to Kala Chowki among proposed changes, Dadar station may be renamed Chaityabhoomi in honour of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Mumbai: Both houses of the Maharashtra legislature on Tuesday unanimously passed a proposal to request the Central Government to rename seven local railway stations in Mumbai. As per the proposal, Marine Lines railway station will be called Mumbadevi, Charni Road will be named as Girgaon, while Cotton Green will be named as Kala Chowki. Other stations also include Dockyard Road (Majhgaon), Curry Road (Lalbaug), Sandhurst Road (Dongri) and King’s Circle (Tirthankar Parshvanath).
Meanwhile, senior Congress legislator Dr. Nitin Raut demanded in the legislative Assembly to rename Dadar station as Chaityabhoomi.
Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Dada Bhuse moved the proposal in the Council earlier in the day. The proposal was unanimously passed by the Council as names of most of the stations were given by the British and have no local relevance.
In the evening, Mr. Bhuse moved the same proposal in the Legislative Assembly, which also passed.
Taking a part into the discussion, Dr. Raut said that since the state government has been requesting the central government to change the names of several railway stations in Mumbai, it should urge the central government to change the name of Dadar station as ‘Chaityabhoomi’, which is the cremation place of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
The senior Congress legislator told this newspaper that the followers of Dr. Ambedkar had been demanding to rename Dadar station as Chaityabhoomi for a long time. “The government should request the central government in this regard as Dadar also houses the residence of Dr. BR Ambedkar. In addition to this, Dr. Ambedkar was cremated at Chaityabhoomi, which has been a place of worship for his lakhs of followers. The BJP-led Mahayuti government does not have respect for Dr. Ambedkar. Therefore, they did not respond to my demands in the House,” Mr. Raut said.
In 2016, the state government passed a similar proposal to rename Elphinstone Road as Prabhadevi. In 2018, the central government approved the demand and the station on the western line is now called Prabhadevi.