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| Mess in Mubarak Mandi complex | | Tourism deptt, MMJHS, govt all to be blamed | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 15: Mubarak Mandi Complex is yet to show signs of rejuvenation despite vehement claims and drum beating of Jammu and Kashmir tourism and cultural ministry alongwith the so-called Mubarak Mandi Jammu Heritage Society (MMJHS) of restoring the complex to its original grandeur.
Things are going from bad to worse with each passing day while the tourism department is sitting silently and watching the crumbling complex. The department does not want to intervene and task top task the concerned agencies who have so-far failed to complete work despite announcement of several deadlines, all of whom have elapsed.
The society is silently doing its work, claimed one of its members while adding that 'pace may be slow but quality work is often slow." He went on to say that tourism department has been unable to extend the kind of support expected of it. However, a look at the complex explains all and one does not need to be acquainted with pace of work from the members of society telephonically.
Once an epitome of world class architecture, Mubarak Mandi Complex is lying in shambles and if the pace at which work is going on is taken into consideration, the project may take another 150 years for its completion. Sources said that the tourism department, which has to cater to the needs of Jammu people, has so far shown no interest in the rejuvenation project.
On walking around or entering the complex, one finds Peepal twigs hanging from the broken apertures. Defaced walls and rooms which few months ago housed various government offices would shock all those Jammuites who are concerned about fast vanishing heritage sites of Jammu region. This is shape of the complex that has already been declared as protected monument in 2005 under Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1920 (AD).
Ironically, tourism department which has to sell this magnificent piece of architecture to the impending tourists from outside the state and the country is acting as mute spectator. It has so far not even once sought a detailed account of money being spent by the heritage society for the conservation and preservation of Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex (MMHC).
It needs to be mentioned here that Mubarak Mandi Complex once housed civil secretariat before the new complex came up. It also housed high court and dozens of other important offices. No significant effort was ever made for preservation of the complex which was though used rampantly by every successive government.
The first step towards the preservation of the complex was taken in the year 2006 when the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad envisioned an ambitious project not only preserve and protect but also restore the heritage complex to its pristine glory with modern works. Thereafter, a society 'Mubarak Mandi Jammu Heritage Society (MMHS)" was constituted.
For reasons known to him, Azad appointed Gulchain Singh Charak as head of the society. The society has both official and unofficial members. Union Tourism ministry was also roped in for funding while INTACH was hired for consultancy. Archeological Survey of India (ASI) took over technical and professional aspects of the project.
Thereafter, the project actually began in October 2008. And if the sources are to be believed, of the total project cost of Rs 300 crore, not much has been spent on the work going on in the complex. The veracity of lofty claims of government to turn it into a heritage site can be gauged with the fact that at many places, the passage to the portions and water bodies situated underneath this complex has been totally blocked by heaps of garbage. Their remnants are still visible.
CRPF personnel, too, have contributed their bit in the garbage dumping, but locals, the government agencies especially the tourism department are more to be blamed for existing mess. |
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