The building of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya came with lot of sacrifices and loss for the people of the temple town.

The district administration's clarification that it had paid ₹1,500 crore as compensation to people who lost their lands to development projects in the temple town may just be one side of the story.

On the other side are many individuals, who despite receiving compensation amounts, find themselves displaced and struggling to survive.

Ajay Sahu was the owner of a grocery business on a stretch that was renamed Ram Path. When the redevelopment of the 13-kilometre stretch was ordered, his 400-square-foot shop was completely acquired by the district administration. He was told that his shop was situated on Nazul land and, as such, he was liable for only ₹1.5 lakh as compensation. Even though he has received the said amount, he said he was unemployed. Ram Path was developed at ₹845 crore.

A sum of ₹114.69 crore was the restitution amount spent on Ram Path, district magistrate Nitish Kumar said on Monday as reported by HindustanTimes.

Similarly, Sunny Gupta used to sell religious objects at his 100 sq ft shop on Bhakti Path. For the widening of the stretch, his was among the many shops that were acquired by the administration. He, too, was told that his shop was on Nazul land and, thus, was offered a paltry sum of ₹1.25 lakh as compensation. Sunny said he was now paying ₹14,000 as rent for his new store. "After paying the rent amount, covering other expenses is a challenging task for me."

As per the district administration, a total of 1,845 land and building owners were affected when the development of Ram Path, Bhakti Path and Ram Janmabhoomi Path was taken up. They were given ₹300.67 crore as compensation, according to official figures issued on Monday.

Similarly, families and farmers who lost their land to construction and land acquisition for the Ayodhya airport were rehabilitated, the DM had said, adding ₹952.39 crore was deposited in the bank accounts of landowners/building owners.