Restoration of Gole Mahal demanded
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU Oct 23: Senior BJP leader and JMC Councilor, Sanjay Kumar Baru along with PTI Bureau Chief and Palms Welfare Association president, Anil Bhat, BJP State publicity secretary, Ayodhya Gupta, BJP TalabTillo Mandal president, Keshav Chopra, BJP district secretary, Brijesh Gupta and local BJP leader, Jatin Sethi submitted a memorandum to Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture, in presence of Member Parliament Jammu-Poonch constituency, Jugal Kishore Sharma during his tour at Hazuri Bagh area falling in Jammu West Constituency.
At the arrival Sanjay Baru welcomed the Union Minister and Member Parliament in his Ward and submitted memorandum demanding the renovation and restoration of historical Dogra Heritage Maharaja’s Gole Mahal by removing the illegitimate possession of property dealers and handing over the same to (ASI) Archaeological Survey of India and Department of Culture.
Baru revealed that Gole Mahal situated at Hazuri Bagh in Talab Tillo is an old heritage site which building is spread over five kanals and 17 marlas since last more than 150 years. In 2011, a property dealer had tried to dismantle the main big-arched gate of the 150-year-old monument, built by then Maharaja Partap Singh, and its Eastern and Western gates along with a three-floor staircase and brick tower allegedly by bulldozers and cranes.
He said a three-member panel, headed by the then Additional Deputy Commissioner, Rehana Batool, had in 2011 filed a report with the recommendation that the monument be declared a protected site.
They urged the Union Minister to intervene and prevail upon Jammu and Kashmir Government to proceed further to removal encroacher from the monument and renovate it and in response Union Minister has ensured and instructed the concerned officers for immediate necessary action to restore glory of this historical Dogra heritage.