Several locals in Alwar’s Rajgarh region are in a state of grief following the demolition of a temple and their homes, following which they are now struggling to feed their families. Rajgarh officials bulldozed the homes of around 85 Hindu households as well as a historic Hindu temple as part of a ‘road-widening’ drive citing a metropolitan masterplan, which left these locals devastated.
#LIVE | Inconsolable locals in Alwar break down over temple demolition in Rajasthan
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People were sobbing and sharing their grief with Republic Media after their homes were demolished on the orders of the administration. The anger of the residents was visible on their faces after their homes were destroyed by local authorities.
A woman said angrily, “No one is helping us in this condition. All of our houses have been demolished and the authorities did not even listen to us once. We have all the documents but still, there is no one to speak from our side.”
When asked about the demolition of Rajgarh’s 300-year-old Shiva temple, residents stated, “Nearby stores and houses are also razed in the name of development. We have no source of income and have received no assistance from the administration till now. We don’t even have access to electricity because the power was disconnected during the demolition.”
One of the locals added, “Johari Lal Meena (local Congress MLA) is doing this because we elected BJP councilors in Rajgarh. Our children are terrified, and we haven’t been able to cook for four days.”
Johari Lal Meena is the MLA of Alwar. There was also a viral video circulating in which Meena allegedly said that the bulldozer would not have worked had there been a Congress board in Rajgarh. It is notable that the BJP rules the Nagar Palika in Rajgarh. Stuck in the middle of this power struggle between BJP and Congress, the poor locals are suffering having lost their homes.
Notably, Rajgarh officials razed the homes of around 85 Hindu families as part of a ‘road-widening’ drive justified by a city master plan. According to an article in Dainik Bhaskar, the ‘station road’ in Rajgarh has a ‘masterplan-approved’ width of 60 feet just over a stretch of 120 meters or so, from Nandlal Shah Garden to Saini Dharmshala. The rest of the road is less than 50 feet wide.
According to reports, numerous stores that had been approved by the government itself decades ago were razed without giving notification to the occupants. The local authorities and MLA have all declined to comment on the matter.
Update
The District Magistrate Shivprasad Nakate said that a “consensus” decision was taken during the municipality meeting to remove the illegal encroachments present on the roadside, that included the 300 years old temple. He also claimed that temple priests shifted the idols to another place before the demolition.
