Mir Farhat
Srinagar, Dec 20: Fixing of marble on Hazratbal shrine to give it a facelift has missed the first deadline, December 31, set by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as Waqf Board said work could not be started on it because of faulty diagrams on the dome surface.
Waqf Board Vice Chairman M Y Qadri said renovation work could not be executed because of the faulty diagrams drawn on the surface of the dome.
“The diagrams drawn on the dome surface were not geometrically precise. When the marbles were fixed on them they could not fit perfectly on it. It was hollow underneath, with 5 inches gaps between marbles which retained water. The water froze and the marbles came crumbling,” Qadri said.
The work on its renovation was started by Waqf authorities after Omar, who is also the Waqf chairman, had given his nod to the proposal of cladding the dome with marbles to give a facelift as its surface was shabby.
Qadri said the work would be re-started in March 2014 as new designs have been framed by expert architects roped in from outside the State.
“We had brought an architect from Mumbai for his suggestions. He gave a complete diagram of the dome and suggested that each coordinate on the dome must have a separate diagram on which the marble will perfectly fix,” he said.
The Chief Minister had approved Chowsheera white marbles for the dome which have been brought from Makrana in Rajasthan.
The vice chairman said the Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC), the work executing agency, has given an approximate estimate of Rs. 3 crore for execution of the work.
JKPCC Divisional Manager Imtiyaz Khaliq said they have not decided on the final estimate cost yet as work was not started on the dome.
“Since consultations going on about the method of fixing marbles on the dome we have not decided on the final cost yet; neither rough nor final estimate. Different consultants are giving different opinions, some are suggesting of fixing the marbles with steel, some with chemical. So there is no final decision yet. As soon as the consultants give their final opinion, we will begin work on the project,” Khalid said.
Khalid added worked was also halted due to setting in of minus temperature in early winter.
The DGM said the JKPCC has completed all the staging work complete as they have put multi-tier scaffolding so that marble and architects could move easily around the dome.
Last year, angry devotees and residents had held protests against the Waqf Board for using substandard material due to which marbles had come crashing off the dome.
But, Qadri said the marbles had crashed due to hollow spaces beneath the marble surface due to ill-designed diagrams for the coordinates and not because of substandard material.
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