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A pink house in the town of Aurangabad.
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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 color. Aurangabad will actually be the country's real pink city," said Arvind Kumar Singh, a senior government official 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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據印度有關官員周一介紹,印度東部一小鎮因犯罪猖獗、法制秩序混亂,當地政府決定將小鎮上的建筑物都刷成粉紅色,以此振作民心。
這個名叫奧蘭加巴德的古鎮位于印度最為落后和貧窮的比哈爾邦,這里的人民長期飽受殺人、敲詐勒索、綁架和幫派內戰等犯罪事件的困擾。
有關官員說,將小鎮刷成粉紅色這個想法源自當地的拉其普特人,他們從印度西部的拉賈斯坦邦遷移至此,而拉賈斯坦邦的首都齋浦就是個“粉紅之都”。
當地政府一名高官拉其普特人阿溫德·庫馬爾·辛格說:“齋浦只有幾個建筑物是粉紅色的,奧蘭加巴德會成為印度真正的‘粉紅之城’”。
由于奧蘭加巴德犯罪猖獗,小鎮的200萬居民對他們的生活質量和當地的蕭條景象極為不滿。有關官員說他們決定趕在10月21日印度排燈節之前完工。
當地居民表示,他們很支持這個新鮮的想法。當地商人桑托斯·庫馬爾說:"小鎮舊貌換新顏,我們感到很高興。"
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