It will be ‘Digha’ railway station, not ‘Dighe’: Govt accepts locals’ demand

Navi Mumbai: Acting on the residents’ demand, the state government has decided that the new railway station on the trans-harbour line will be named Digha instead of Dighe.

While Digha villagers opposed the previously decided name, Dighe, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena staged a protest in June.

Pratap Mhatre, a resident, was confused about why the station was named Dighe when the area is known as Digha. “We have a Digha deity temple in the area, and hence it was important for us that it is named accordingly. We fail to understand why Dighe was chosen earlier,” he said.

The state government issued an official notification which stated that based on the recommendation of the Thane collector, the name Digha has been decided for the station that falls in the Thane-Airoli section. The proposal will be sent to the central government for final approval.

“The name of the railway station will be Digha. It’s confirmed. The present signboards of Dighe will be changed as and when required,” Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer of Central Railway (CR), said.

When asked about the much-delayed railway station will be commissioned, he said, “Some works remain. We shall confirm it soon.”

Mhatre said the residents are glad the government has rectified the mistake and taken the right decision. “The railways should now commission the station at the earliest as the works are complete. We have heard of various dates of inauguration so far. The commuters of the region will get some relief if the station is inaugurated at the earliest.”

Speaking on the history of the name, former MP Sanjeev Naik, who had made the demand for the railway station in 2012 during his tenure as Thane MP, said that the residents and their representatives had demanded that the station be named after their village. They had even written a memorandum of the demand to the then guardian minister Ganesh Naik as the railway authorities named the station Dighe.”

“The area is known as Digha ward in civic records, the election commission, too, has the area registered as Digha. However, some sections ignored the sentiments of the locals and based on old revenue department records, had submitted certificates to get the station named Dighe instead of Digha,” he added.

He said that MLA Ganesh Naik spoke to chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on the issue and asked for a proposal to name the station Digha.”

He added, “We had inspected the railway station and suggested some changes and facilities be provided in the station. We are confident that the issues raised will be taken care of, and the station will be commissioned at the earliest with the name ‘Digha’.”

The five-year wait

Daily commuters are upset at the long delay in commissioning the railway station work, which began in 2018.

Digha railway station is Phase I of the Airoli-Kalwa elevated rail corridor project. Phase II has also been delayed over land acquisition issues. The corridor project costing ₹476 crore, has been undertaken by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) under Mumbai Urban Transport Project III.

Residents have to travel all the way to either Airoli or Thane for train services. The station will also provide direct access to lakhs of people from Navi Mumbai to the Kalyan-Dombivli areas, bypassing Thane railway station once the Airoli-Kalwa elevated corridor project is completed. Commuters from Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambernath and Badlapur have to come to Thane railway station first and then take another train on the Trans-Harbour line towards Vashi or Panvel. Similar is the case with commuters travelling to these areas from Navi Mumbai.

Thane MP Rajan Vichare has written to railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav and MoS Railway Raosaheb Danve, on the delay. He said, “Thane railway station is burdened due to commuters from Navi Mumbai and the other cities. The elevated corridor will provide direct access between these cities and reduce the burden on Thane railway station by almost 40%.”

Skywalk to curb crowding

A ₹1.5 crore elevated skywalk has been planned to connect the station to the opposite area. “This will prevent the commuters from having to use the chowk area near the station, leading to possible crowding and traffic jams in the area,” the CR official said.