Mumbai: Elphinstone Road, a suburban railway station on the Western Railway, will be now renamed as Prabhadevi, after a famous temple in the precincts of that station.
And Mumbai’s famous landmark and Unesco designated World Heritage Site Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), formerly Victoria Terminus, will now have an addition to its name and will be called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
CSMT is the most vital point for commuters on the suburban Central Railway and Harbour Lines as well as long distance travellers with a footfall of over three million commuters who use it daily. Prabhadevi station is a much smaller station serving the local population living on either side of the station.
With the Centre giving the approval to the Maharashtra government’s proposal to rename the two stations in the city, the state government is expected to issue a notification on this matter soon.
Speaking on the name-change game in the city, Nayana Kathpalia, a trustee of Nagar, which works towards better governance in Mumbai, says, “I don’t agree with the changing of names of streets, roads, stations and other sites which in fact tell the history of that place. You may not like the colonial rulers but by changing the name, they are wiping out the history since every name speaks of the locality.
“For all you know, they may change Laburnum Road as it is an English name. But this road at Gamdevi has rows of Golden shower trees or Laburnum trees planted during the British era. I know of a road called Rope Walk as the shops once supplied ropes.” Changing names, she says, is the top on the agenda for politicians as well as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation when it actually needs to focus on improving civic conditions.
Most people feel this is a ploy to distract citizens’ attention from civic nightmares like potholes, garbage, hygiene and poor medical amenities for the public
Many may not agree with the name changes across Mumbai but one resident of Prabhadevi is happy and says, “Many of the colonial names should go. We are living in a free world.”
During the British era, Elphinstone Road station was named after Lord John Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay Presidency between 1853 and 1860. The new name, Prabhadevi, comes from the temple with the same name located nearby which dates back nearly 300 years.
In the expanded name of CSMT for the iconic railway terminus of Mumbai, the word Maharaj or king refers to the 17th century Maratha warrior king Shivaji, who is revered and admired even now for his valour for carving out a Maratha empire covering a large part of India.
This has been a long standing demand originally put forth by the Shiv Sena with the name changing proposal being passed on December 16, 2016 at the winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly in Nagpur.
The state government plans a grand ceremony with the presence of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who hails from Maharashtra.
The name changing game has gone on for quite some time in Mumbai, with the CSTM itself undergoing changes. The terminus building in the heart of the city is an architectural marvel constructed between 1878 and 1888 and draws tourists from across the country. Initially it was known as Bori Bunder, when it was built by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway and after the station was rebuilt it was named after the reigning Queen Victoria and called Victoria Terminus. Subsequently it was renamed CST and renamed again during the Shiv Sena-BJP rule in the mid-90s.
It was the Sena which changed the name of Bombay to Mumbai in 1995.
There is also a demand to rename Marine Lines station as Mumbadevi station made by BJP legislator Raj Purohit to the union railway minister Prabhu and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Other stations that could don a new name are Grant Road as Gamdevi, Currey Road as Lalbaug and Mumbai Central as Jagannath Sunkersett, a 19th century philanthropist who contributed to Bombay immensely.
