The pre-monsoon showers also led the entrance to the new Ram Temple splattered as devotees were seen lined up outside it with roof missing the sheets, leaving those standing underneath exposed to the downpour.People were seen walking through a water-logged street leading to the Ram temple after the rains.Locals of the areas adjoining the temple premises claimed that water entered their homes and also the numerous guest houses and home stays, which have mushroomed after the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla in January, this year.The footfall, despite all the challenges, be it the blazing sun, sweltering heat or the heavy downpour leading to water logging, has been high in the temple town. As per the official figures, at least five crore people have thronged Ayodhya to take darshan of Ram Lalla in his abode since January, this year.”Rain, as usual, has caused havoc. Streets are inundated. The only difference this time is that waterlogging is making the stay of tourists and devotees, who are coming in large number, difficult,” said a local resident Ramendra Mishra.Nirankar Tiwari, owning a homestay, added that the guest houses and homestays receive 2,000-2,500 guests daily. “The going has got tough for the outsiders as they are not able to get access to four-wheelers or even e-rickshaws to wade through the waterlogged lanes.” The common refrain among the local residents is the hurried construction and careless infrastructural planning behind the mess. “The infrastructure plan for Ayodhya was drawn in a hurry to prepare the city for the consecration ceremony. Now it is causing problems both for locals and tourists,” said Saket Singh, a student.Meanwhile, the social media has also been abuzz with visuals of water-logging, caved in patches on Ram Path and also the collapsed wall of newly-restored Ayodhya Dham railway station.The wall collapse incident brought the state government under severe criticism by the opposition including the Samajwadi Party.Meanwhile, the both railway department and Press Information Bureau (PIB) rushed to debunk the claim about the collapse of a boundary wall of the newly-inaugurated Ayodhya Dham railway station.According to PIB, the collapsed wall was not part of the new station infrastructure but belonged to the old station area. PIB clarified that the collapse was caused by excavation activities by a private individual and waterlogging in a nearby private area.Last year, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the revamped Ayodhya railway station ahead of the consecration of the Ram temple. The station is multi-storey building with amenities such as lifts, escalators, food plazas, shops for puja items, cloakrooms, and childcare rooms. It is a “IGBC certified green station building” railway station.
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