AJMER: Heavy rainfall in the city Wednesday evening led to multiple structural collapses, including a portion of the historic Ajmer dargah’s ceiling, exposing serious infrastructural concerns and triggering backlash against authorities. The city received over 54mm of rain, resulting in one death and multiple injuries.A man died when an SBI bank wall collapsed, burying him under debris, while two others were injured. The other wall collapse incident at the dargah, which occurred on the sixth day of Muharram, fortunately saw no casualties as the area was deserted due to the downpour.The dargah collapse has sparked widespread outrage among religious leaders and devotees. Syed Sarwar Chishti, Secretary of the Anjuman Syedzadgan Committee, blamed the dargah Committee’s “institutional apathy” for the deteriorating condition of the centuries-old shrine.
“Not a single audit of the structure was carried out ahead of the monsoon,” Chishti said, noting that the committee, meant to comprise nine members, hasn’t been constituted for three years.Dargah priest Syed Daniyal Chishti claimed that maintenance requests had been ignored for years, including repairs to leaking spiritual chambers. The dargah committee’s CEO, Bilal Khan, was unavailable for comment.This incident follows a 2020 collapse of a historic lightning tower at the shrine, highlighting a pattern of maintenance issues at the religious site. Religious leaders are now calling for management changes to ensure better preservation of the historic shrine and safety of devotees.The heavy rainfall severely disrupted city life, with widespread waterlogging causing vehicles to float in several areas. The SP office was flooded and multiple wall collapses were reported across the city, including at Bhagchand Ki Kothi and the Roadways bus stand.Former RTDC chairman Dharmendra Rathore criticised the municipal corporation’s monsoon preparedness, pointing out that the city was underwater during the first significant rainfall. The situation at JLN Hospital was equally concerning, with leaking roofs and power outages affecting patient care.
