BMC transfers ward officer as partial razing of illegal temple in Mumbai's Ville Parle sparks protest

MUMBAI : The BMC on Saturday transferred its K East ward officer, Navnath Ghadge, handing over additional charge to its H East ward officer, Swapnaja Kshirsagar following protests over the April 16 partial demolition of an illegal Jain temple in Vile Parle.

The local community in Parle came out on Saturday to protest after BMC razed a portion of the 28-year-old illegal temple on Wednesday. Temple authorities accused a neighbouring hotel of “motivating the civic action for its expansion plans.” The hotel manager declined to respond to the temple’s accusations.

#WATCH | Mumbai: Members of the Jain community hold protest against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after it demolished a Jain temple in the Vile Parle area pic.twitter.com/zpNzodcMmh

— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2025

Mumbai guardian minister and Malabar Hill MLA M P Lodha said he had sought action against the civic official who, he claimed, overstepped. “The temple wasn’t causing any obstruction, so the speed at which BMC officials acted was unwarranted. I extended my support to temple authorities and visited the site,” he told TOI.

Saturday’s protest rally was addressed by Sadhu Maharaj, Lodha, MLA Parag Alavani as well as trustees and leaders of the Jain community. Over 15,000 Jains participated in the rally which reached the ward office, where leaders submitted a memorandum .

MVA politicians protested BMC’s move. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad joined the Jain community’s march. Congress’ Pawan Khera stated on X, “People have gathered in large numbers on the streets of Mumbai. The Jain community is hurt by the BMC’s demolition of the 90-year-old Digambar Jain temple without any hearing.”

Some perceptive on the demolition of the Jain temple at Vile Parle on April 16,which triggered strong backlash from the Jain community,

Structure was illegal and the temple trust also had accepted it and said attempts were being made to regularise it.

The city civil and… https://t.co/5axJYk8P7p pic.twitter.com/kbiDhraNek

— Richa Pinto (@richapintoi) April 19, 2025

Aaditya Thackeray alleged BJP belongs to nobody. “It is the BJP govt that is running the BMC through the CM’s office,” he said on X.

Anil Shah of the temple trust said, “The temple was constructed in 1997. Since then, BMC was insistent we remove it. We applied to BMC for regularisation since 2018, but each time our plea was rejected. The matter is pending in HC, and our hearing was scheduled for April 16. But before that, BMC arrived around 8.30 am and began demolition. 70% of our structure was razed.”