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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | New Delhi
By Mandira Nayar
NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has written to RITES - consultants to Delhi Metro - to ensure that the design of the next phase of Metro Rail that goes past important historic buildings, including the Qutub Minar does not tamper with the fabric of this area. With some of the track being overground, the ASI fears that the landscape around Jahanpana - Mohammad Bin Tughlaq's contribution to the city, its oldest fortification - Quila Rai Pithora, Qutub Minar and the Archaeological Park would be changed forever. And in an attempt to keep alive the spirit of this area, the ASI has sent a letter to RITES asking it to explore other options. "We were sent a proposal by RITES about the upcoming phase of the Metro Rail to consider. We are asking them to explore different options and take the line underground instead. It might cost more, but it is all in the interest of history,'' a senior ASI official revealed. While this is not the first time that the Delhi Metro track passes through an ancient part of the city - the first phase of the Metro Rail passes under the Walled City and Jai Singh's bright pink observatory Jantar Mantar in the heart of the Capital - the tracks in the new phase fall within the prohibited and regulated area of protected monuments, according to an ASI official. "It will be necessary for them to take permission for digging next to these buildings. However, the problem in this phase will be that structures designed for the Metro, whether they are stations or anything else, will all be within this area. We don't allow any construction in this buffer zone. It will change this area quite a bit. We have also asked RITES to make a detailed presentation on the next phase to senior officials and the director general so that the whole proposal can be discussed in detail,'' the ASI official added. The ASI will also educate workers who dig the ground about artefacts that might encounter during the laying of the track. However, ASI officials are not very hopeful about finding anything significant. With the last excavation through the Walled City not yielding anything significant - which seems quite impossible according to senior archaeologists - the ASI does not believe that the situation will be any different this time round. "We can't have someone there all the time. They don't allow anyone on the site, so we can't ensure anything for certain and have to just take their word for it,'' sources revealed.
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