Omar Govt facing daunting task to preserve Dogra heritage
Preserving the rich archaeological and cultural heritage of Dogra rulers in Jammu and Kashmir is proving to be a daunting task for the Omar Abdullah-led coalition Government.
Despite submitting detailed project reports (DPR) prepared by INTACH- the leading consultants in the field of art and cultural heritage — to the Indian Government, the State Government has nothing much to boast of in its report card.
Official sources said, “Against the projected demand of approximately Rs 300 crore required for Mubarak Mandi Heritage complex till date the Centre has released a paltry sum of Rs 3 crore against sanctioned amount of Rs 4.37 crore to carry our renovation and restoration work of High Court Complex and Army headquarter building.
Mubarak Mandi heritage complex houses Royal palaces of Dogra rulers and heritage buildings built by Maharaja Gulab Singh, Ranbir Singh,Pratap Singh and Hari Singh. The oldest building in the royal complex dates back to 1824.
After 1947 the complex was utilised by the State Government for housing Government offices, secretariat buildings and High Court complex.
The royal buildings were vacated after they were declared unsafe for public use. Since then these buildings were facing the complete neglect by the successive State Governments as none conceived a conservation project to restore its glory.
The massive earthquake on October 8, 2005 also devastated portion of the royal buildings and alarmed the State Government authorities to devise a comprehensive conservation project.
After lot of activism and public pressure the State Government had set up a Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society (MMJHS) in 2006 with the sole objective of restoring the pristine grandeur of royal buildings.
Ironically, the heritage society, located in one of the unsafe building is yet to find a safe accommodation for itself to carry out its day-to-day activities.
The Executive Director of the Mubarak Mandi Jammu Heritage Society, AK Sharma, told The Pioneer, “After INTACH submitted its DPR we had received a sum of Rs 3 crore for High Court complex and Army headquarter building from the Centre. The Archaeological Survey of India had carried out the renovation or restoration work but at present the conservation work in the Mubarak Mandi heritage complex is completely on hold in the absence of receipt of money.”
Official sources said, we are hoping to start the work on the project before the end of the financial year. Though, the 13th Finance Commission has recommended an award of Rs 50 crore for the conservation project but the State Government is yet to receive its first installment to expedite the renovation work.
In addition, the State Government is also expected to get a lions’ share of Rs 25.42 crore from the Ministry of Tourism for its mega project consisting renovation work of four heritage buildings but is still awaiting formal sanction.
Meanwhile, strong opposition to the proposal of leasing out residential palaces of Royal families as per the Vision plan of INTACH to leading hoteliers for conservation, preservation/restoration and operation of heritage hotel has also made matters worse for the State Government as it is finding it difficult to fill the gap and arrange money for the conservation project.
Official sources said after constituting the heritage society The Indian National Trust for Art and cultural heritage (INTACH), entrusted with the responsibility of preparing a vision document, had submitted proposals to the tune of Rs 232.92 crore to renovate. After including the cost of conservation of basements and other buildings the total cost of the project was pegged at Rs 296 crore (approximately).
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