The Maharashtra government has given its in-principle approval to rename eight railway stations in Mumbai, Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale said on Tuesday.

The Mumbai Central station will be renamed as the Nana Jagannath Shankarsheth station. Curry Road will be renamed as Lalbaug, Sandhurst Road as Dongri, Marine Lines as Mumbadevi and Charni Road as Girgaon.

Cotton Green will be renamed Kalachowki, Dockyard as Mazgaon and King’s Circle as Tirthankar Parswanath.

Shewale said that there had been a demand from “Mumbaikars to change the British-era names of the railway stations” in the city.

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“I conveyed this sentiment to the state government,” said the Shiv Sena MP from the Mumbai South-Central constituency. “I thank Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for giving an in-principle approval for this demand.”

Shewale said that the proposal will be sent to the Union government after it is ratified by the state Cabinet.

Bharat Gothoskar, the founder of Khaki Heritage Foundation, told PTI that the names of railway stations, roads and intersections should not be changed as there was history attached to them. He said that names such as Charni Road and Marine Lines did not have any colonial connection.

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“Charni Road is named for a grazing ground for cattle [which is ‘charani’ in Marathi],” Gothoskar said, adding that it did not have any colonial connotations. “Marine Lines is named after the barracks near Dhobi Talao.”

Gothoskar added: “On the other hand, stations named after British governors – Grand Road and Reay Road – have been spared.”

In 2017, the Union government approved the renaming of the Elphinstone Road suburban railway station in Mumbai to Prabhadevi station. The station was named after Lord Elphinstone, the governor of the Bombay Presidency from 1853 to 1860.

In 1996, the Victoria Terminus in southern Mumbai, named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, was renamed the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. It was again renamed as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in 2017.