In order to respect the brave martyred soldiers of the country, two stations have been renamed in honour of them on the 9.4 km long line of red line between New Bus Adda from Dilshad Garden Delhi Metro. Officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have confirmed this news. The demand for the name change was done by local people from a long period of time. UP CM Yogi Adityanath will soon write a letter to DMRC for further procedures.
Officials said, “Rajendra Nagar metro station has been renamed Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar station and the “new bus Adda” has been named “Shaheed sthal”(new bus station). Both of these stations come under Ghaziabad region.
DMRC officials stated, “as the metro station falls in Uttar Pradesh, the procedure of changing name will be carried by the Uttar Pradesh government. The Uttar Pradesh government changed the names of two Metro Stations at the root of the new bus depot from Dilshad Garden in February. The proposal was approved. Major Mohit Sharma was martyred in an encounter with militants in Hafruda forests of Jammu and Kashmir in March 2009. He was honored bravely with Ashok Chakra.
The demand for the change of name of the new bus Adda and the Rajendra Nagar metro station was going on for a long time. Various organizations and local community were demanding for changing the name. This movement continued for several days.
“It would also be the first time, when any station in the existing DMRC network in Uttar Pradesh, would carry the name of a martyr,” the official said.
Some people submitted a memorandum to GDA VC and appealed the officials for the stations to be renamed. Arguing that while the New Bus Adda and Metro Station were built, there was a martyr memorial built in memory of the martyrs of the first freedom struggle of 1857. In this case, the name of this metro station should also be a martyr spot. Rajendra Nagar metro station name was made for paying tribute to Kargil war soldier Major Mohit Sharma. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath agreed to name change while looking at this long matter and demand by local people. On getting the green signal by DMRC, the government decided to rename the name of both the metro stations in March 2019.
The name of the metro station is authorized by the state government. According to DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal, the state government can change the name of the metro station whenever it wants to. On the Bahadurgarh Corridor in Haryana, the names of the stations were changed in this manner before.