The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday approved the renaming of two significant infrastructure projects. The Versova-Bandra Sea Link will now be named after Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, while the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will be renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as “Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smruti Shivdi Nhava Sheva Atal Setu.”
The upcoming 17-k.m. sea link will connect Andheri to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link as part of the coastal road, and the MTHL, which is expected to be completed by December, will connect Mumbai to Navi Mumbai.
On May 28, the 140th birth anniversary of Savarkar, Mr. Shinde announced his government’s decision to name Versova-Bandra Sea Link as “Veer Savarkar Setu”. After the announcement, Congress party criticised the Shinde-Fadnavis government, accusing them of renaming locations and initiatives as a distraction tactic from pressing concerns.
The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and co-chaired by his deputy Devendra Fadnavis also approved construction of a grand memorial for the Marathwada Liberation Struggle in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), with a budget of ₹100 crore. On Wednesday, the Cabinet took total 31 decisions.
Recently, the State government announced its decision to rename Ahmednagar district as Ahilya Nagar, after the 18th-century warrior queen Ahilya Devi Holkar. In February, it renamed Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.
