No toilets in Neem ka Thana, residents at disease risk

Jaipur: Structures that remain standing after the demolitions of June 5 at Neem Ka Thana , about 80 km from Sikar district headquarters on June 5 this year, are now fragile, and could collapse in the rain. Besides, the rubble chokes drains, and there are chances of the spread of disease, once the area becomes water logged. The district administration, under police protection, pulled down buildings here without notice.Over 250 homes were demolished, one of which was a large haveli built before Independence.
Residents of the area are now left with not even proper toilets. The nearby public paid toilets have begun to exploit the situation, hiking up fees for each use. There are children and women left with little protection, found a team of People’s Union for Civil Liberties which visited the spot recently.
Although the demolitions occurred on June 5, the public notification of this was issued on June 6. On June 7, the local newspapers carried announcements warning residents of buildings in the area to vacate. By the time the announcement appeared in print, the demolition had occurred.
A team of PUCL members met state chief secretary CS Rajan on June 13 and asked how these demolitions were allowed, especially since some of the buildings pulled down existed in maps of the princely state that preceded Independence. Rajan told the delegation that he was unaware of this development.
The matter was widely reported in local newspapers. “A decision of this magnitude could not have been taken without the approval and consent of the highest authorities in the state. The local officials only tell us that ‘orders came from above’. How far up above, we cannot quite tell,” said Kailash Meena, a resident of the area and also a local PUCL member.
This reporter attempted to speak with Sikar district collector Lakshminarayan Soni, but he was busy in a meeting. Chief secretary CS Rajan is away in Bangalore and unwell, one of his assistants at the CMO said.
Kailash Meena said authorities had pulled down homes at a time when the monsoon is about to arrive, with no thought for how families would manage.
Meena said the demolitions are not in keeping with Masterplan 2013-31; residents who have suffered damages should be compensated, he said, adding that the demolition decision was taken to ease the flow of trucks laden with mining material – about 600 trucks ply through this area each day.
“The government must, on an urgent basis, provide toilet facilities and proper shelter to the displaced. Policemen misbehaved with some of the women, and should be punished for it. We need a fair probe into this, so we can at least in future prevent innocent people’s lives from being affected by arbitrary exercise of power,” Meena told TOI.