A small part of a building within the Ajmer Dargah Sharif complex collapsed on Wednesday after heavy rains, raising security concerns for visitors during the ongoing Chhoti Urs Festival.
The incident occurred around 2 pm, immediately after the afternoon prayer, when the rain affected the deteriorating structure already.
Members of the Dargah Khadim Committee convicted the Central Government for “neglecting the maintenance of the historic religious site”. According to Syed Sarwar Chishti, secretary of the Dargah Anjuman Committee,-a prolonged inactivity and corruption within a body-darling committee representing dynastic khadims (priests) has worsened the building conditions, which is a government-dependent body responsible for the complex.
Chishti alleged that the post of Nazim, a prominent administrative officer of the Dargah Committee, remained vacant for three years till the recent appointment and even today, the posts of members of the nine committee are vacant.
“There is a lot of corruption. Neither the committee does anything, nor let us work. The building is one step away from a disaster, especially during the monsoon,” he said.
He said that the water entered the dargah of Khwaja Saheb and a small part of a hut fell near Shah Jani Mosque near Chhabili Gate.
Responding to the allegations, recently appointed Nazim, Mohammad Bilal Khan, Border Security Force (BSF) retired excavation accepted structural issues. He said that the work of repair and maintenance is already going on and he had recently held a meeting with Khadims to solve his concerns. Khan said, “Today’s incident was caused by sudden heavy rains. The issue of a seepage is because the building is very old, but the government is taking care of the matter,” Khan said, saying that many schemes will be implemented soon.
Dargah (T) Indian Express
