A portion of the Mubarak Mandi Palace Complex collapsed on Tuesday, proving the sincerity (or lack of it) on the part of the authorities working on preserving the monument which was once the seat of governance of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
An undisclosed source has revealed to The News Now, “A portion of the Gole Ghar building of the royal palace complex today collapsed, probably due to the recent rains that lashed the city. Thankfully nobody got injured. It is a warning that Gole Ghar, and the whole complex needs urgent attention.”
Pertinently, the Gole Ghar building is among the five blocks of the complex that is undergoing emergency stabilization. And the wall that collapsed today, had gone quite out of the plumb. It was to be dismantled and erected again, because of the extent of damage it has experienced.
“Given that the restoration of Gole Ghar is estimated at Rs 16-18 Crores, the authorities, facing fund crunch, ordered for emergency stabilization of the building,” the source tells.
It is not the first time that some portion of Mubarak Mandi complex, the royal residence of erstwhile Dogra rulers, has collapsed. A portion had earlier collapsed in 2016 due to incessant rains, and in 2010, a portion was damaged when heavy rains triggered landslides on the slope facing river Tawi.
“The authorities are not serious about restoring and preserving this monument of Dogra Heritage. Only meetings are conducted, and every time, a new person is on board. Yesterday, Advisor Sharma reviewed the progress of ongoing restoration works and issued directions, and today the Tourism charge has been given to Baseer Khan, fourth Advisor to LG Murmu,” mentions the Jammu-based journalist following the Mubarak Mandi issue religiously.
It has reliably been learnt that even today, Executive Director, MMJHS, Deepika K Sharma had scheduled a meeting today to discuss the issues.
He adds, “No one is in real concerned about the palace carrying a history of more than three hundred years since 1710 AD turning into a complete ruin. While some officers pass the time of their tenure at Mubarak Mandi Jammu Heritage Society, some of them have got themselves transferred to other departments. The delay in approvals and funds shows that bureaucratic apathy towards the heritage monument is writ large.”
Only a few days ago, the Jammu and Kashmir government has given the ‘Triple A’ Administrative accord to release the amount of Rs 65 Crores, which was announced in November 2018, for the restoration of 6 buildings, namely, Central Courtyard, Amar Singh Palace, Ram Singh Palace, Ram Singh Queen Palace, Darbar Hall and Dogra Art Museum.
The source says, “Without funds, the work had been forestalled. With already available funds, the work could be started on merely two sub projects – Darbar Hall and Dogra Art Museum. Following the release of Rs 65 Crores, tenders have been floated for four other sub projects of the Mubarak Mandi Master Plan. We can only hope that the relevant contractor turns up soon and the restoration work can start for atleast six aforementioned buildings.”
The Master Plan for the Mubarak Mandi Palace Complex, which is being implemented at present, was prepared in July 2018 by M/S Sanrakshan Heritage Consultants Pvt Ltd. Rs 523 Crores worth plan was approved in March 2019 by the then J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik.
As many as 59 projects were proposed in the aforementioned Master Plan, aimed at conservation and adaptive reuse of nearly 24-25 buildings, development of pathways and parks, for landscaping and stabilizing hills.
Also: Read my article at THE NEWS NOW
No end to bureaucratic apathy, portion of Gole Ghar collapses
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