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| Renovation work on revered Hazratbal shrine misses successive deadlines during six years | | | Mudasir Tariq
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Jan 12: The renovation work on famous Hazratbal shrine, held in high esteem by the people across the sub-continent has missed many deadlines over the past few years with the basic reason being the lackadaisical approach of Muslim Waqf Board.
The renovation work that started six years ago is halfway miffing devotees at large who throng this holy place during festivals.
"The renovation work is irking the devotees; there is a lot of area around this shrine that has been occupied by the raw material like cement, wood and bricks. The authorities are showing a lazy approach in completing the renovation work," said Wazir Mohammad, a shopkeeper outside the shrine.
After witnessing huge public anger over the crumbling down of marbles from dome in September 2012, then chief minister, Omar Abdullah who is chairman of J&K Waqf board directed its officials to renovate it till December, 31, but till date the renovation work is still going on.
"The people on this project have shown a lazy approach. Even the marble work has been completed and Chowsheera white marbles were used for the dome that was brought from Makrana in Rajasthan. Renovation work on other small domes and interior is still pending," said an engineer, who works at the shrine.
The Main dome is scaffold and it is said to take more time as the engineers are yet to fully satisfy themselves about the successful plugging of the leaks. Pertaining to the extreme weather conditions, the renovation work on the small domes has been suspended till March.
"The main dome is scaffold yet and will persist for this winter. The engineers working on the project want to test the efficiency of work," said another engineer on the site.
Meanwhile, sources told Early Times that the estimated cost of the renovation of the shrine is 3.66 crores with 90 percent of the money already been spent on the project. The lack of funds is preventing authorities to continue the renovation process, sources said. "The people working on the project have misused the money. The renovation work is still halfway. Most of this money has been already disbursed which is the reason that the work had come to a halt," said sources.
Irked by the slow work, locals in the area have been insisting upon the authorities to remove the scaffoldings as soon as possible, as they were put around the dome of the shrine in August 2011. They said authorities have put them on the shrine just to hide their substandard work.
"We want these scaffoldings to be removed on immediate basis. This is really annoying. The authorities have put them on just to hide the failures of work. They have used substandard material and now they are afraid of removing these scaffoldings," said a group of locals outside shrine. |
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