Delhi HC orders airlifting Karol Bagh’s iconic 108-feet Hanuman statue
The capital’s 108-foot Hanuman idol in Karol Bagh is an epochal image. To depict the national territory, the shot of this giant Hanumanji has been used in a number of movies and TV serials, which is soon going to vanish.
The Delhi High Court on Monday suggested to the local authorities “airlifting” of the 108-foot Hanuman statue in central Delhi to remove the encroachments around it.
Angst-ridden over illegal constructions in the national capital, a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar after observing the relocation of skyscrapers in the United States gave this suggestion.
The order comes after hearing a PIL by an NGO seeking removal of unauthorised constructions and encroachments in the Karol Bagh area in the city.
“Consider if the statue can be airlifted. Speak to the LG. You know, in the US, entire skyscrapers are shifted as a whole,” it said.
The court also said if the civic bodies could “at even one place show that the law was being imposed, “the mindset of the people of Delhi would change.”
It said enough opportunities have been given to the municipal corporations to enforce the law “but no one wants to do it.”
The matter came up before the bench today as the local authorities were seeking a modification with regard to the police station which would be responsible for implementing the court’s November 15 direction to remove encroachments from the area.
This comes as shocking news for the Hanuman devotes. Like the US, how much the government will be thriving in its implementation of relocating the giant Hanuman statue in the heart of the city is yet to be seen; but the relocation is sure to face some redundant challenges.