Shadimarg Sarai, built by the Mughal ruler Jahangir in Pulwama district of South Kashmir stood on the Mughal Road over which the caravans of Mughal royalty and official entourage travelled when their rule was at its zenith. Four Sarais have been identified as of historic significance and among these Aliabad was the largest while Shadimarg sarai spread over 8 acres of land has shrunk to just half an acre. Land mafia and political heavyweights have grabbed the land surrounding the Sarai and built houses inside the stone wall that once stood as boundary of the Sarai. It is a travesty that ownership of the land and the Sarai is claimed by more than one department and more than one district with the result that in the process of passing the buck, the dilapidated building has become the storehouse for garbage and refuse and quadrupeds take shelter in it. What are the Departments of Revenue, Tourism and the Archaeology going to do about it? Nobody knows whether they are interested in preserving this and such like monuments at different places in the State. In normal course of things, preservation and upkeep of this monument should have become part of the project of re-building the Mughal Road. Why did this responsibility escape the view of the planners and those who sanctioned huge grants for building the road has to be explained? We would advise the government to end the dichotomy about the ownership of this historical monument and save whatever can be saved for posterity even at this late stage.
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