'Replaced with Marathi': Hindi out at metro site in Thane district

THANE: The MMRDA has begun updating metro signboards to include Marathi on Metro Route 12, which is currently under construction in Dombivli, following protests by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers.The protests were sparked by the absence of Marathi on the signboards, which were displayed only in Hindi and English.On Wednesday, MNS workers protested against the signboards on the ongoing Metro Line 12 (Kalyan–Taloja) in Dombivli, blackening the portions written in Hindi and demanding that all information boards be displayed in Marathi, the official language of the state.The protest was led by former MNS corporator Prabhakar Jadhav, who said, “In Maharashtra, priority should be given to Marathi. But an institution like MMRDA is using Hindi. That is why we blackened the signboards and demand that all boards be in Marathi. If not, we will deal with it in our MNS style.”Following the protest, MMRDA officials stated that on Thursday, they reinstructed the contractor carrying out Metro work to use Marathi along with English on signboards, as stipulated in the terms and conditions of the work contract.After MMRDA’s instructions, staff were seen on Friday replacing Hindi with Marathi on all signboards.