Mubark Mandi restoration marked by delay

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.

Against the projected demand of approximately Rs 300 crore required for maintenance of this heritage complex till date the Centre has released a small amount  of Rs 3 crore against a sanctioned amount of Rs 4.37 crore to carry out renovation and restoration work of High Court complex and Army headquarter building.

“State Government constituted a committee, Mubarak Mandi Heritage Society (MMHS) in 2006 with the sole objective of restoring the pristine grandeur of royal buildings but all in vain as till date nothing more has been done to save this historical complex,” says a local resident.

The 13th Finance Commission has recommended Rs 50 crore for the conservation of this important project but the State Government is yet to receive its first installment to expedite the renovation work.

“Although, the State Government was expected to get a lions’ share of Rs 25.42 crore from the Ministry of Tourism for its mega project consisting of renovation work of four heritage buildings but it is still awaiting formal sanction,” sources in MMHS added.

Sources further claimed that after constituting the heritage society, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was also appointed for preparing a vision document, and had submitted proposals to the tune of Rs 232.92 crore to renovate. Whereas after including the cost of conservation of basements and other buildings, the total cost of the project was pegged at Rs 296 crore (approximately).

The residents of the area now fear that the mighty complexes, which were the insignia of the royal memorabilia and seat of governance for the erstwhile Dogra rulers, will fade into oblivion, if corrective measures are not initiated to remove the illegally parked vehicles.

When contacted, MMHS, AK Sharma said, “After INTACH submitted its DPR, we had received a sum of Rs 3 crore for High Court complex and Army headquarters 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.”

“Moreover, the work of wooden paneling on the roof of complex is still incomplete; this work needs special architecture and money. Till, the government sanctions enough money the work would remain stalled by ASI and result would be delaying of the entire project” he maintained.

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Mubarak Mandi ropeway project

Work on  45 cr Mubarak Mandi ropeway project to start by June next 

The work on the prestigious ` 45 cr Mubarak Mandi palace to Mahamaya Park Shahbad Bagh-e-Bahu Ropeway Project would be started by June next year.

The proposed Ropeway project aimed at to add another tourist attraction to the City of Temples would have 37 cabin lines from historical Mubarak Mandi palace to Mahamaya Park Shahbad Bagh-e-Bahu. The ropeway would have two sections across the river Tawi, one from Mubarak Mandi, Peerkho to Mohmaya Park and another from Mohmaya Park to Shahbad. Each cabin would have six seats with scientific ventilation facilities.

This was disclosed at a high level meeting chaired by the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Nawang Rigzin Jora, convened to review the progress made in completing the paper work for initiating the project.

The meeting discussed and sorted out several issues confronting the early execution of the project.

It was informed that Detailed Project Report (DPR) for ropeway has been formulated with the consultancy of RITES. The meeting decided to go for tendering the project in January 2012 while stressing for the expedition of the procedure for environment, forest and wildlife clearance.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Jora said that the Government was keen to create more tourism attraction spots in Jammu so that pilgrim and other tourists visiting Mata Vaishno Devi and other holy shrines besides scenic spots of the region would extend their holidays in the city, adding the dream of laying of Mubarak Mandi to Shahbad Bahufort ropeway would be realised at any cost.

The Minister directed the concerned authorities to expedite completion of all codal formalities of the project so that the work would be started at the earliest. He instructed that the project should be completed within one year time.

On the occasion, the Managing Director Cable Car Corporation gave a power point presentation on the proposed ropeway project.

Commissioner Secretary Tourism and Culture, Atul Dulo, Commissioner Secretary Forest, Shantmanu, Commissioner Secretary Revenue, Isfindyar Khan, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Pawan Kotwal, Chairman Pollution Control Board, Lal Chand, Director Tourism Jammu, R.S. Mehta, Vice Chairman JDA, Vinod Sharma, Managing Director Cable Car Corporation, Talat Parvez, Regional Wildlife Warden, HoD Environment Jammu University and Superintending Engineer PDD Jammu, besides other senior officers of Planning and Tourism Department attended the meeting.