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Crime town painted pink
17/10/2006 00:29 - (SA)
Patna - Authorities in eastern
India are painting a crime-infested town pink in the hope that
an image makeover will lift the sagging morale of residents who
are fed up with the decline in law and order, officials said on
Monday.
The ancient town of Aurangabad in Bihar - one of India's
most backward and poorest states - is a hotbed of crime
ranging from killing, extortion, kidnapping and inter-caste
wars.
Officials say the idea of painting the city pink originated
from the dominant Rajput community, who migrated from the
western state of Rajasthan where the capital, Jaipur is known
as the pink city of India.
"Only a few buildings (in Jaipur) bear the pink colour.
Aurangabad will actually be the country's real pink city," said
Arvind Kumar Singh, a senior government official overseeing the
work who is also a Rajput.
With the city's two million residents complaining about
poor quality of life and depression due to crime, officials
said they had decided to paint the city pink ahead of the Hindu
festival of light, Diwali, on October 21.
Local residents said they welcomed the new lick of paint to
the town. "The town does not seem to carry any of its past look
and we feel happy about it," said Santosh Kumar, a local
businessman.
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