‘Withdraw order to demolish Chhawla Hanuman Temple’

New Delhi: Delhi Urban Development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday wrote to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, requesting him to “withdraw orders to demolish the Chhawla Hanuman Temple”.

The letter, however, did not make clear when did the L-G issue the order to demolish the temple and why. Bharadwaj said local residents believe the temple protects the area and prevents accidents on the Chhawla bridge and claimed that they expressed anger over the L-G’s order when he went to inspect the Najafgarh Drain.

“The temple doesn’t affect the traffic at the existing site; a new bridge has been constructed adjacent to the existing one, and all traffic will be diverted to it,” Bharadwaj wrote in the letter. He said the demolition of the temple ahead of the opening of the new bridge will be a bad omen and a huge insult to the local residents.