Building a Bridge in Mayapur - A conflict between local Gaudiya Maths and the government

Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Jayatah!

The present government of West Bengal is working on a development plan for Mayapur, which includes erecting a bridge between Mayapura and Navadwip and widening the roads. For the road-widening project, the government wants to appropriate the land of several maths in the area. The Department of Public Works has served legal notices to all the maths in Mayapur.

The designated land includes frontal parcels, ghats, temples, samadhi mandirs, as well as guesthouses of several Gaudiya Maths. The designated area even includes the Gopeshwar Shiva Temple of Mayapur. The activity to widen the road will include the demolition of all the structures in this designated land area, which even includes temples and samadhi mandirs.

Many missions of the disciples of Our Great Preceptor, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada are in a critical situation. They are planning to seek the help of the courts.

According to Vaishnavas, those who are involved in this destructive activity are committing a great offence to the Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates. The ultimate results of such activity will be most unfortunate.

We hope that all the devotees worldwide will oppose such action.

In service, the correspondent to Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math mayapur@sreecgmath.org

July 18. — Even though armed with a court order, the district administration finds itself unable to enforce it along an 11-km stretch of road between Dhubulia and Hulorghat at Mayapur in Nabadwip, Nadia following protests from the encroachers.

With an order from Mr Justice Barin Ghosh of Calcutta High Court, the district administration has already started demarcation work on both sides of the 11-km stretch of the Public Works Department road from 27 June this year. It is assumed that about 2,000 constructions would be considered illegal.

Following a tussle with owners of shops, lodges and hotels on 3 April this year, authorities of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) had filed a writ petition before Mr Justice Barin Ghosh, alleging that a good number of shops, lodges and hotels were being illegally constructed beside the PWD road near the ISKCON temple.

The High Court had ordered the district administration and chief executive engineer of the PWD to inform him about the position after making a demarcation along the aforesaid road within a week.

On the basis of the complaint, the district administration, with help from the police, had started to demarcate land and found most constructions to be illegal encroachment on government lands. About 200 public houses, 200 shops and 22 maths are under the scanner for illegal encroachment. Even a part of the boundary wall of ISKCON may be illegal.

To protest against the drive, about 300 members of the Mayapur Hotel and Lodge Owners’ Welfare Association, Mayapur-Hulorghat Bybsayee Samiti and Sri Saraswat Gourio Vaisnab Sangha submitted a memorandum to the Nadia Zilla Parishad sabhadhipati, Mrs Rama Biswas, on 5 July urging her to take necessary steps to solve the dispute.

Mr Ganesh Biswas, secretary of the Mayapur Hotel and Lodge Owners’ Welfare Association, said if the administration started to demolish buildings and temples then several would be rendered homeless and many would lose their jobs. He said Gouriya Vaishnab Sangha has already moved the court and the Bybsayee Samity also lodged a case. He said that the residents whose buildings fall in the encroachment scanner would file a case in the High Court tomorrow.

Some devotees of the Gourio Math said that if their maths are demolished, they would commit mass suicide.

Ramesh Maharaj of ISKCON said: “These construction are illegal and in every shops and hotels, they cook fish and meat. even as we repeatedly urge them not to do so. Some lodges even run flesh trade, where our temple is situated.”

Further discussions on the issue may be found in this thread.