‘Lord Hanuman’ seeks ₹1 crore redressal for damages to statue

I Hanuman, son of Anjani, request the NGT to shut the stone mine located near my ancient temple as the regular blasts in the quarries led to cracks in my idol...

Officials in Madhya Pradesh are flummoxed after the National Green Tribunal received a petition filed by “Lord Hanuman” demanding the closure of a local mine that damaged the Hindu god’s statue and compensation of ₹1 crore.

Devendra Bhargava, a resident of Guna in northern Madhya Pradesh, told HT he filed the petition last week at the NGT’s central zone branch in Bhopal in the name of Hanuman, the presiding deity at local temple damaged by explosions carried out at stone mines in the area.

An ancient temple of Hanuman sits at Piprouda Khurd in the area but over the years, cracks have developed on the idol because of regular blasts at the mine sites.

“I Hanuman, son of Anjani, request the NGT to shut the stone mine located near my ancient temple as the regular blasts in the quarries led to cracks in my idol. The blast in the quarries should be stopped and the deep quarries should be filed with rubble.”

Bhargava said his lawyer told him that an idol of god would be considered as an individual by court.

The petition, however, left the district administration surprised. Guna district magistrate Rajesh Kumar Jain said he came to know of the petition but hadn’t received any document.

“Mining of stone has been taking place here for the past 25 years. If I am called for a hearing, I will inform Lord Hanuman about it.”

But Bhargava is not happy with just closing down the mines.

“In the petition, compensation has also been demanded for damages caused to the idol. I lodged complaints to authorities against the adverse effects of blasts on the idol several times but every time they paid no attention to my complaints. Hence, I was left with no option but to file the petition at NGT.”