Corridor for Kashi tourists proves a bane for locals

Shailendra Kumar Mishra, who works in Kolkata, was surprised when he alighted an auto rickshaw at Chowk to go to the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Instead of a narrow and cramped lane, he found a vast open space at the end of which stands the temple.

Mishra, who had last visited the place around seven years ago, said that he had a tough time reaching the temple, owing to the crowds and the congested lanes.

The houses in the lanes that led to the Temple from Chowk, as well as the Ghats of the Ganga, were demolished as part of prime minister Narendra Modi's ambitious Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Project.

The objective of the Rs 600 crore project is to clear the way to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple from the Ghats of the Ganga to give the pilgrims easy and direct access.

Over 250 houses have been demolished so far. Many displaced residents allege that several ancient temples were also demolished while razing the houses, a contention strongly denied by the local officials.

The project has sharply divided not only the residents but also the seers and Hindu scholars.

While some residents and seers feel that lanes are part of the age-old culture of Varanasi and the people come here to enjoy that very culture, the others find nothing wrong in it.

"Kashi (old name of Varanasi) is not like any other tourist place... it’s a centre of the ancient Hindu traditions and culture... the Project will destroy that," says Vishambhar Nath Mishra, the Mahant (religious head) of the famous Sankat Mochan Temple here.

Prominent Hindu seer Swami Avimukteshwaranada Sarswati also agrees. "Many ancient temples have been razed to the ground," he alleged.

The Project CEO, Vishal Singh denies the charges. "We are paying more than adequate compensation to the displaced people... they are being paid double the market price for their houses... we will also preserve the ancient temples," he said.

Those displaced, however, are not happy, but many of them do not want to speak on record and are reluctant to reveal their names. "We are helpless... we cannot do anything. We used to earn our living by selling puja items... now that we are displaced, we have also lost our jobs," says a youth near Lalita Ghat.

The tourists may like the transformation but for many here it is an "attack" on the "fakkad" (carefree) way of life of the temple town.