Bengaluru: Muslim prayer centre at Railway Station restored as porters' retiring room after protest
Bengaluru, Feb 2: The retiring room for porters which was converted by some into a Muslim prayer centre at the Bengaluru city Railway Station has been restored to its previous state, Railway authorities said.
The issue had snowballed into a controversy after a viral video in social media claimed there was a 'mosque' inside the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru City Railway Station.
"The porters unilaterally decided to restore the porter retiring room into its previous form as they did not want to give any communal twist to the entire episode," a senior Railway official of the South Western Railway said.
The video purportedly showed the prayer hall painted in green and Muslims offering prayer there.
A Hindu right wing organisation staged a demonstration at the Railway Station on Monday demanding restoration of the porter retiring room into its previous form.
They also questioned how the room was allowed to be converted into a 'Mosque' and warned the officials that they will raise the matter with the Railway ministry authorities.
Following the demonstration, the entire room was brought back to its previous form and the porters started taking rest there as done earlier.
The SWR official said the porters themselves agreed not to disrupt peace and cordiality amongst themselves.
"The prayer hall was an internal arrangement of the porters and no one had any issue. Now again for the sake of peace and harmony they unilaterally restored the retiring room. We didn't have any role in its restoration, the official claimed.
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Karnataka govt seeks agency to manage rural drinking water units: Minister
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said the state government is working to appoint an agency to manage clean drinking water units in rural areas.
The state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister was responding to a question by Hirekerur MLA U B Banakar in the legislative assembly.
"In the rural areas of the state, many clean drinking water units have been set up under corporate social responsibility (CSR) grants, including contributions by MLAs and MPs, and handed over to gram panchayats. After the maintenance period, problems have arisen in keeping these units operational," Priyank said.
He added that a proposal has been made to award a maintenance contract to one of the country’s reputed drinking water unit manufacturing companies, but so far, no companies have come forward to take up the work.
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"The government is continuing its efforts and will resolve this problem soon," he said.
On a query regarding fluoride content in water, the minister said water quality testing is being conducted monthly in all zilla panchayats.
"Laboratories have been opened for this purpose. Around 6.5 lakh water samples have been tested across the state, and water testing kits have been provided to villages," he added.
