*No arrangement of Rs 198 cr for simultaneous works
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Aug 30: Shocking it may sound but it is a fact that pace of damage to the historic Mubarak Mandi complex is exceeding the restoration speed and nobody knows how many buildings would be able to withstand the vagaries of weather before the start of restoration work on them. Moreover, no arrangement has so far been made for an amount of Rs 198.77 crore which is required for simultaneous restoration of crumbling Dogra grandeur.
After much hue and cry from different sections of the society about the need to protect the historic Mubarak Mandi complex, the State Government constituted Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society on December 28, 2016 vide Registration No.5025-S of 2006 under Societies Registration Act, 1998.
At that time, it was stated that Governing Body and Executive Committee of this Society would play crucial role in ensuring speedier execution of restoration work so as to save the historic complex for the generations to come. However, the Society has failed to achieve the objective behind its creation as barring discussions in its General Body and Executive Committee meetings not much progress has been made on restoration of the complex.
During each and every General Body meeting of the Society chaired by the Chief Ministers of the time concern was expressed over slow pace of work by the Archeological Survey of India and thrust was laid on identification of agencies having relevant expertise in conservation of heritage sites so as to speed up the restoration work. But till date this exercise has not been conducted thereby indicating the level of seriousness towards this historic complex, sources told EXCELSIOR.
“Every time when the issue of slow pace of work is highlighted it is stated by the concerned officials as well as ASI that conservation work is highly technical and takes much time but why there is slackness in identifying other agencies is not revealed”, sources further said while disclosing that pace of damage to Mubarak Mandi complex is continuously exceeding the restoration speed.
Like previous rainy seasons, several buildings of Mubarak Mandi complex suffered massive damages during the ongoing Monsoon and if the present pace of damage is not checked at the earliest nobody knows how many buildings of the complex would remain for restoration work, they said, adding in this way very few portion of complex will stand testimony to the Dogra grandeur for the generations to come.
“The pace of damage demands engaging of more agencies for restoration work but because of slackness of all the concerned persons even the list of approved agencies which can be helpful in expediting the conservation has not been obtained from the Government of India”, sources rued.
Stating that lack of funds may also create impediments in the restoration work, sources said that Government of India had sanctioned Rs 50 crore and Rs 16.80 crore under 13th Finance Commission and Mega Tourism Project respectively for this historic complex. Out of this, Rs 8.5 crore and Rs 3.38 crore had been released as first installments and accordingly an amount of Rs 8.38 crore was released in favour of the ASI for ongoing restoration work of Royal Courts, Gadvai Khana and Badi Deodi.
As the term of 13th Finance Commission had expired the rest of the funds could not be availed and keeping this in mind, it was proposed to arrange funds to the tune of Rs 54.91 crore from other sources either from State Government or Government of India. This proposal was mooted in a meeting held on December 2, 2015 under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary.
Disclosing that the proposal has yet not become reality, sources said, “in case funds are not arranged in time the ongoing work will suffer badly and there is every possibility of project getting delayed for unspecified period”. Besides on immediate requirement of Rs 41.49 crore, there is absolutely no focus on money required for simultaneous restoration of buildings.
“For those buildings which are not funded from any source, an amount of Rs 157.28 crore is required”, sources said. For such buildings, an amount of Rs 32 crore is required for next four years (from 2016-17 to 2019-20) and thereafter Rs 29.28 crore for 2020-21. “Though a proposal has been submitted to the Department of Culture yet the same has not been taken seriously till date”, sources added.
Pointing towards the controversy over damage to Central Courtyard, which was dismantled despite being protected monument under SRO-126 dated April 26, 2005, sources said that the ASI was requested to restore the original height of this courtyard as per the decision of the 6th Governing Body meeting. “But the matter is pending with ASI despite the fact that the same was taken up with Director General, ASI by the Government”, they added.
“All this clearly indicates that no seriousness has so far been shown towards saving the crumbling Mubarak Mandi complex and Heritage Society has failed to achieve the objective behind its creation”, sources remarked.
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