Jamshedpur, July 17: Rifles have overshadowed the customary lathis.

The city skyline is changing and so are the security guards who used to keep an eye on the houses and the locality. And the Nepalese community of the city has apparently found itself at the receiving end of it. The whistle-blowing watchman in localities is now a passé.

Shyam Bahadur (37), whose forefathers have been watchman, is now seen selling food in Golmuri market.

“I worked as a watchman in Bistupur area last year also. I used to earn money in form of the subscriptions from each household on a monthly basis and somehow managed to make ends meet and sustain my family.”

“But over the years, several multi-storeyed buildings have come up and the owners of the buildings want private security guards to look after their apartments. In the process we have been left with no option but to return to our home town to earn a living,” said Shyam.

Shyam said when there is private security guards around, why should the people pay for night watchmen?

“Ever since the multi-storeyed buildings have come up we started losing our jobs. We are finding it very difficult to earn our living. Some have started doing other jobs like agriculture, working at offices, selling goods,” he said.

Mushrooming of multi-storeyed buildings, highrises and shopping malls across the city has led to a different breed of security system, where the whistle-blowing “bahadurs” (as the watchmen belonging to the Nepali community are called) do not fit the scene.

It is not that the people of the steel city are unaware of the change. They have noticed it but say that they cannot change the situation.

“Previously, we used to have sound sleep as we knew that bahadurs are there to keep a watch on the locality. But it is very different now. We do not get to see a nightguard except when a theft or burglary has taken place at some house in the locality,” said Sujit Kumar Singh, a resident of South Park.

Singh said that the residents have to keep a watch on their own vehicles whether they are safe or not as the watchmen are no longer there.

Narayan Prasad, the priest at Pasupatinath Temple belonging to Nepali community in Golmuri, said that majority of people of the community Nepal have returned to their native place.

“The situation has changed now. Those who would earn their living by working as watchman have started working as farmers back home. The people here are no more interested to keep bahadurs, as the nature of township has changed. They think their houses will be in safe hands if they recruit private security guards instead of these people,” said Prasad.