MCG house approves renaming of Hero Honda Chowk to Eklavya Chowk

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) approved the renaming of Hero Honda Chowk on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway to Eklavya Chowk during a House meeting on Wednesday.

The House also approved the renaming of 12 other junctions and stretches in the city.

On April 6, MCG councillor from ward 27 Sudesh Rani proposed the renaming of Hero Honda Chowk to Eklavya Chowk after the mythological prince in Mahabharata who cut off his right thumb and presented it to his teacher Dronacharya as guru dakshina (repaying one’s teacher after the completion of education). There is an Eklavya temple on Khandsa road in Sector 37.

“I proposed the renaming of Hero Honda Chowk to Eklavya Chowk, because Eklavya is a very important part of Indian mythology. The city is named after Guru Dronacharya and Eklavya was one of his disciples, so he is an important part of the city’s history as well,” said Sudesh Rani.

Mayor Madhu Azad said the proposal received unanimous approval.

“A proposal was put before the House to rename Hero Honda Chowk to Eklavya Chowk due to its historic and mythological importance. The rechristening of the junction was unanimously approved by the House, along with the renaming of 12 other stretches and junctions,” said Azad.

According to MCG officials, the eponymous junction had derived its name from the automobile manufacturing company that opened one of its major manufacturing units nearby in the 1980s. Hero Honda Chowk is located on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and connects commuters to Sohna Road and Basai, and as a result, is one of the junctions with the highest volume of traffic in the city. Such is the congestion that an underpass and a flyover have been opened here in the past five years.

MCG’s own main office in Sector 39 is located less than a kilometre from the junction.

According to Azad, the MCG can rename all stretches and junctions in the city under its jurisdiction.

The other stretches and junctions that were approved for rechristening include the Sector 71 and Sector 73 dividing road (now Rao Vijay Veer Road), and a nearby unnamed roundabout (now Rao Vijay Veer Chowk). The stretch from Khatushyam temple in Wazirabad to Dhani Chowk has been renamed after freedom fighter Kishanlal Yadav, the road from Hero Honda Chowk to Basai Chowk has been renamed after Kargil war martyr Sukhbir Singh Yadav, and the stretch of Jharsa Road from Sector 32 to Sector 39 has been renamed to Deenbandhu Sir Chhotu Ram Marg.

However, the proposal to rename the stretch between Bikaner Chowk and Manesar Road to Shaheed Jagroop Singh was denied and Galleria Road after late MCG councillor RS Rathee was deferred by the House. MCG officials said the first stretch was under the jurisdiction of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and they didn’t have the authority to rename it. They added that the matter of renaming Galleria Road had not been discussed with the local councillor of ward 22, Sunita Yadav, who is also the deputy mayor of the city, beforehand, and so the proposal was deferred.