RAIGANJ: The construction of the Rupahar-Barduari portion of the Bypass Road in the North Dinajpur district by the National Highway Authority hit a temple hurdle as residents of the area protested against the removal of a place of worship having the idol of Goddess Kali.
Failing to convince the residents, the NH authorities were compelled to postpone the work.
The incident occurred when NH officials arrived at Madhupur village along with a priest, earth movers and other equipment to shift a temple to start work on the 12-km stretch on the Rupahar-Barduari portion of the Bypass Road approach.
After performing a Puja when the authorities tried to remove the idol a huge crowd protested vehemently demanding that the road be realigned instead.
A large police force under the leadership of IC Raiganj and BDO of Raiganj soon reached the spot and managed to control the situation. However, the construction of work did not resume.
Srikanta Barman, Panchayat member said: “Without any prior discussion the NH authorities tried to pull down the century-old temple. They can easily realign the road to a little east. The sentiments of the people have to be honoured. They could have selected a suitable place for the idol to be shifted and then tried to move it.”
Kingshuk Maity, SDO, Raiganj said: “Without that 50-meter approach road the bypass will not be complete. We had a positive round of talks with the local people on February 21.”
“However, they put up a sudden resistance yesterday. As religious sentiments are involved, we are not hurrying matters as that could aggravate the situation further,” he said.