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Crumbling Kashmere Gate gets ASI attention
September 16, 2007
New Delhi: Standing adjacent to a bustling market and an inter-state
bus terminal, the Mughal-period dated Kashmere Gate has lost much
of its glory with the passage of time. Much of the structure was damaged
in the 1857 Uprising by the British when its soldiers stormed into
Delhi through the gate.
In an attempt to give special attention to all heritage sites related
to the 1857 Uprising, the monuments caretaker, Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) is now working on an elaborate conservation
work for Kashmere Gate.
The gate is one of the four surviving gates to the old city Shahjahanabad
and is unique in its own way as it is the only gate with two arched
openings in the Capital. Kashmere Gate got its name as the royal processions
of emperors and queens used to pass through the gate on their trips
to Kashmir. Holes made by cannon balls when the British tried to recapture
Delhi are still visible in the structure.
The monument stands in a bad shape today. Once the grand entrance
to the city of Shahjahanabad, the walls of the gate are slowly disintegrating.
Much of the plaster has peeled off, revealing brick work that has
itself crumbled with the time. According to the ASI, they plan to
work not only on the main structure, but also surroundings of Kashmere
Gate.
Delhi circle ASI head and superitendant archaeologist Dr D V Sharma
said: "Work has already commenced in the wall adjacent
to the monument and the water bastion. We are still working to prepare
an estimate towards the entire cost of repairs to Kashmere Gate. After
this work is completed in another two to three months, we will take
up more heritage sites related to the Uprising."
According to the Kashmere Gate conservation plans proposed by the
ASI, all encroachments in the monument vicinity will be removed and
a fence will be put in the garden area. The ASI is also considering
doing some excavation work in the monument site as much of Kashmere
gate’s original structure has been buried.
The fact that this unique gate is located so close to an inter-state
bus terminal, has only hastened its degeneration. Encroachments, pollution
and apathy of the government and public has seen the gate fall from
the pinnacle of grandeur to a state of almost complete ruin. "A
number of squatters have come up right next to the gate and people
are known to set up tents right next to the old gate. Adding to this,
kids of the nearby slums often damage the structure and the lone guard
provided by ASI is unable to stop this," said an official.
After the monument area has been
fenced off, the garden will also be developed and strict measures
will be taken to keep away people other than visitors to Kashmere
Gate. Work in the water bastion, located to the north of Kashmere
Gate, is already on in full-swing and a notice has been served to
all slum dwellers to move out from the monument's vicinity.
Kashmere Gate forms one of the four surviving gates to Mughal King
Shah Jahan's empire, with the other three being Delhi Gate,
Turkman Gate and Ajmeri Gate, all in a delicate state at present.
Historians fear that if the gates are not conserved properly, they
could also be lost to a rapidly growing civilisation like the erstwhile
Kabuli gate and Mori gate.
Kashmere Gate has two arched openings and there are compartments on
the side attached to the Gate. The only other gate to have more than
one arched opening apart from Kashmere gate is Tripolia Gateways in
north Delhi which has three arched openings.
The double openings of Kashmere Gate, one for exit and one for entrance,
was an addition made by the British who used modern construction materials
to strengthen the walls and gateways in order to make them immune
to attacks.
Source: The Times Of India
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