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The Small Stone Mosque in Ahmedabad’s Paldi is a 16th-century mosque and is considered a monument of national importance. Within twelve metres of this monument, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is undertaking construction for the last four months. Machines and bulldozers belonging to the AMC have been present at the site a long time to lay drainage lines in the Paldi area.
This construction work is at only 12 metres' distance from a national monument, thereby in violation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act. These are also the rules followed by the Archaeological Survey of India.
To stop AMC’s illegal activity, I filed a petition in April 2019 in the Gujarat High Court. The hearing in the matter is ongoing.
The AMC has told the HC that laying drainage lines falls under its essential services and does not fall under construction work.
Ahmedabad city was the first to be declared a heritage site by the UNESCO. Since then, however, I feel the AMC and ASI have consistently failed to protect and secure our national monuments. Illegal construction near Brick Minars behind Kalupur Railway Station is another case in point.
I had previously written about it on The Quint but construction still continues. Despite a PIL being filed against the DRM Ahmedabad and ASI for illegally destroying these historic and heritage pillars, construction was started by the Railways in February 2018.
In both cases, construction was within 100 metres of a national monument, which is the prohibited limit, and thus illegal. Unfortunately, neither the AMC nor the Railways have paid any heed to these guidelines.
It remains to be seen to what extent government bodies are conserving the nation’s heritage – a responsibility they are entrusted with.
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