Moghul Palace Threatened

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Fatehpur Sikri cracks up as dynamite takes its toll

 

Vijay Upadhyay/ Agra

 

 

Emperor Akbar's abandoned capital Fatehpur Sikri has been reeling

under the impact of dynamite blasts for more than 10 years. What

makes the state of affairs add up to a very depressing picture is the

fact that by the time the Agra administration took cognisance of the

damage caused to this group of monuments on complaints by the

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), it was too late. A number of

monuments have suffered irreparable damage, with the hills supporting

the city wall slowly giving way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In all, about ninety monuments of the Fatehpur Sikri complex are in

danger of being completely lost in the rubble, as the hills on which

they stand are being pillaged for stones. Many monuments have even

lost their identity, as just small parts of the structures remain

standing on rock croppings. The city wall has suffered the most

damage and has completely disappeared at a number of places.

 

 

 

Superintending Archaeologist D Dayalan has said that the ASI had

asked the Agra administration repeatedly to ban mining activities in

a radius of 10 km in and around Fatehpur Sikri, in compliance with

Supreme Court orders in this regard, but the mining has continued

with the blasting continuously rocking the sandstone monuments of

Fatehpur Sikri.

 

 

 

Speaking about damage caused by the dynamite blasts to the monuments

in Fatehpur Sikri, Mr Dayalan said that the historical Buland

Darwaza, reputed to be the highest gateway in the world, has suffered

grievous damage through the past few years owing to the repeated

blasting in the surrounding hills and a number of cracks have

developed in the sandstone structure, whose effect on the structural

integrity of the monument is yet to be studied. Mr Dayalan confirmed

that mining activity in the quarries have subsided in the past three

days owing to strict administrative action and the blasting has

completely stopped.

 

 

 

Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Jagmohan had raised serious

objections with the State Government on the continued use of dynamite

and mining in the hills surrounding Fatehpur Sikri for the past three

years in a radius of 10 km round the Heritage City. The Agra

administration is only beginning to take action against illegal

mining in the stone quarries of Fatehpur Sikri.

 

 

 

The State Government has ordered a high-level inquiry into this issue

to ascertain how the mining has continued in the region despite clear

instructions against it. The inquiry shall also reveal how and why

fresh mining permits were issued to the miners despite a complete ban

on mining in a radius of 10 km of Fatehpur Sikri.

 

 

 

Whatever the results of the inquiry be, it is clear that the heritage

of Agra would have been lost to administrative ignorance, if the

Union Minister for Tourism had not taken the initiative to get the

blasting stopped at his level.