The. East Indian community has reiterated its demand that the Santacruz (East) station on Metro 3 should be remained as Vakola after the nearby village.
The demand was made by community group, Mobai Gaothan Panchayat, in a memorandum given to the Member of Parliament from Mumbai North West, Varsha Gaikwad, on Thursday, January 16.
Other demands made in the memorandum include the formulation of a ‘Mumbai Bhumiputra Policy’ to help the original inhabitants of Mumbai, including the East Indians. The community has asked for the restoration of their gaothans or villages, many of which are centuries old.
The group has also asked for special provisions for the gaothans in the city’s Development Plan. Currently, the villages are not included in the DP and residents have opposed classification of the areas as slums eligible for Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects.
The East Indians, who have been included in the list of ‘Other Backward Classes’ also want the government to make the process of obtaining OBC certificates easier for families. The community has also asked for weekly train services from the city to Velankanni, a Roman Catholic pilgrimage centre in Tamil Nadu.
The community also wants official recognition of St Gonsalo Garcia, who was born in the 16th century in Vasai, then called Bassein, as India’s first Roman Catholic saint.
The demand for the renaming of Santacruz (East) station on the city’s first underground Metro – the 12.4km Aarey to BKC stretch of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro 3 – is part of a campaign to give station names to reflect the local history.
The Mumbai Bhumiputra East Indian Samaj and Mobai Gaothan Panchayat, groups representing the original inhabitants of Mumbai’s villages have suggested that Vidyanagri should be renamed as Kole Kalyan, an extinct village that was displaced to build the city’s airport. Other suggestions include renaming Seepz as Kondivita, T2 Airport station as Sahar, and Marol Naka as Marol Gaon.
