Shrining: Way to keep away bulldozers

NEW DELHI: It''s the perfect way tokeep the demolition men away, and ensure that your illegally-constructedbuilding never comes down. Just set up a shrine nearby.On the SectorRoad connecting the Delhi-Gurgaon highway to DLF, next to the newly-builtall-glass ritzy Ericsson building, is a cluster of jhuggis. It''s adefinite eyesore, and often, a downright nuisance. But, not all the might ofChautala, who''s said to part-own the building next door, can do anything aboutit. The reason: the saffron flag that flutters above a small structurethere.There''s always a small group of people outside the jhuggi. Andon certain days, the crowd swells causing a snarling jam of office-commuters.The ''temple'', say harassed commuters, came up within no time. They also knowthat "it will take forever to go".Unauthorised religious structuresthat have become ''temples'' in time, often leading to inconvenience and trafficsnarls, abound in the Capital. But ask MCD and police officials whatcan be done and they put up their hands in despair: "It''s a religious issue.There''s little we can do."A new ''mandir'' has cropped up in themiddle of the busy Madhu Vihar Market in Patparganj near a peepul tree. In aperiod of six months, it had become a Prachin Hanuman Mandir. Whenpeople raised eyebrows, the name was hurriedly changed to Manokamna SidhiMandir. "It all started with someone tying a thread around the tree and lightinga diya," say Patparganj residents."We have orders not to touch thetemple," says a constable on duty. The structure, say locals, is the brainchildof a pujari who had been forcibly evicted from another ''mandir'' in a housingsociety.A BJP party worker in Janakpuri has even extended her groundfloor house parikrama to accommodate a mandir.Only those shrinesthat are mapped out in the city''s master plan are legal, says MCD commissionerRakesh Mehta. "One way out is to file a PIL. Demolition is possibleif the court gives an order. For example, the Mumbai High Court has given anorder to pull down 500 similar structures.""As responsible citizens,that''s what we ought to do," says Anand Agarwal, a businessman who faces atraffic problem everyday on the Ashram-Mathura Road stretch to Faridabad, on hisway to work. A small shrine came up along the divider near theHyundai showroom some three-four years ago. Now, it''s a big ''temple''. Shopsselling garlands, sweets, bangles have sprung up on the pavements. Often, busdrivers stop in the middle of the road for prasad. "I''m sure itwill only get bigger," says Agarwal. "An accident is just waiting tohappen."