LUCKNOW: The Rs 600 crore Banke Bihari Corridor in Vrindavan for which the Uttar Pradesh government got the ‘go-ahead’ from Supreme Court of India recently, is still facing opposition. Locals fear that the project will compromise heritage and religious antiquity of Vrindavan.The Supreme Court has allowed the Uttar Pradesh government to use temple funds for land acquisition to build the corridor, a project envisaged with an aim to ease crowd pressure around the temple. While the state government claims it will help pilgrims’ movement and improve their safety saving them from stampede like situations, locals fear the project will damage Vrindavan’s spiritual and cultural heritage. Over 300 buildings may have to be demolished to carve out the corridor, say the locals. The Supreme Court allowed the state government to use Rs 500 crore from the temple’s funds to acquire land. The acquired land will be in the name of the deity or temple trust. The apex court also allowed the authorities to acquire up to five acres of land around the temple for the project. The division bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, said in the order that the land acquired for the corridor would be registered in the name of the temple deity, that is, Banke Bihari, or the managing trust. The court, in the order, made it clear that the approval for the corridor project was being given, keeping the stampede of 2022 in mind. It may be recalled that two devotees had died due to suffocation and several others were left injured after being caught in the crowd, which had swollen much beyond the capacity of the temple premises during Janmashtami celebrations on the night of August 19, 2022. At the same time, the Supreme Court, while delivering its order, appreciated the good work done by UP Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad and laid stress on a coordinated effort by the trust, state government and the local residents of Vrindavan.
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