Mira-Bhayandar: In a notable example of community cooperation and administrative coordination, the Sagnai Devi Temple near Ghodbunder village was relocated with the active participation of residents and devotees on April 22.

The move necessitated due to road widening work carried out by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ease traffic congestion between Western Hotel and Ghodbunder.

Sagnai Devi is the gram devi (village deity) and the temple was over 100 years old, Chandrakant Vaity, a three-time deputy mayor and gram panch of Ghodbunder village, said.

Acting under the directives of the municipal commissioner and administrator Radhabinod Sharma (IAS), and following correspondence with the NHAI, multiple departments of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) executed the relocation seamlessly.

Vaiti, along with local leaders Keshav Gharat, Shantaram Thakur, and Ranjit Kini, guided residents and the temple committee in extending full support to the authorities, ensuring the process remained incident-free. The successful relocation set a positive precedent for balancing religious sentiments, legal norms, and urban development.

"This is the third time we’ve had to relocate the temple due to National Highway widening. Although we have a large temple, they are now offering us only a small space. Compared to previous commissioners, this one is particularly strict. We had a discussion with him for about 32 minutes and mutually decided to shift the temple 100 meters from its current location. Even though we agreed to the relocation, they still arrived with senior police officers and a large force. We didn’t want any confrontation, so we cooperated peacefully and ensured a smooth relocation,” Vaity said, adding "As the shifting is for the development and widening of the road, we agreed to the relocation.”

MBMC officials were unavailable for comment.