Two months of controversy, Sena finally gives nod to naming Ghatkopar-Mankhurd flyover after Shivaji Maharaj

Days after the BJP accused the Shiv Sena of delay in naming the newly built flyover on Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Sena-led works committee (suburbs) on Thursday gave its nod to the proposal. The 2.9-km flyover built by the BMC has been mired in controversy over the past two months with regard to a naming proposal.

The flyover is expected to be thrown open to public by August 15. On Thursday, committee chairperson Swapnil Tembawalkar cleared the proposal of naming the flyover after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. “In the last meeting, the administration informed us that the flyover could be ready by the end of July. On Thursday, in a written reply before the committee, the bridges department said the flyover is ready. Following this, we approved a proposal of naming the flyover after Shivaji Maharaj,” Tembawalkar said.

He also slammed the BJP for unnecessarily accusing the party of a delay in the naming proposal.

On Tuesday, the BJP alleged that the Sena had failed to decide on the proposal. The party also pointed towards a fresh letter from Samajwadi Party corporator Rais Shaikh seeking for the flyover to be named after Sufi saint, Khwaja Garib Nawaz Moinuddin Chishti.

Anticipating that the BJP could cause an uproar regarding this, the Sena cleared the proposal.

The naming proposal for the flyover first landed in controversy in June when Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, urging him to name the flyover after Sufi saint Khwaja Garib Nawaz Moinuddin Chishti. Following this, the BJP targeted Sena accusing that BJP MP Manoj Kotak had first demanded to name it after the Maratha warrior king in December 2020.

With this issue, the BJP also cornered Sena over Hindutva. In last month’s meeting of the works committee, held on June 27, the Sena then said the flyover will be named after Shivaji Maharaj once the work had been completed.

But on July 27, BJP group leader Prabhakar Shinde said the Sena was delaying naming the flyover as Shaikh had written to the BMC to name the flyover after Khwaja Garib Nawaz Moinuddin Chishti.

“This is unfortunate as the Sena failed to name the flyover after Shivaji Maharaj and, once again, there is a demand to name it after the Sufi saint,” Prabhakar Shinde, BJP group leader in the BMC, had said.

The flyover is crucial as it will reduce the travel time between Ghatkopar and Navi Mumbai as motorists will not have to face traffic congestion at Shivaji Nagar Junction, near Deonar dumping ground in Govandi.