Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 16: A 150-year-old Mahal built by the Dogra kings in Jammu has suffered damage after a property dealer, who had purchased the land from a business house, razed a portion of the monument to start construction work there.
Set in a mango orchard in Hazuribagh area near Talab Tillo under the jurisdiction of Domana police station, the ‘Gole Mahal’ was allegedly damaged last night after the property dealer and his labourers started work on it when they bulldozed the front portion of the monument and axed several trees.
“Police immediately reached the spot and stopped the construction work after getting a complaint. All machines were also seized. Police ‘nafri’ has been deployed at the spot to stop further construction work,” SSP Jammu Vijay Singh Samyal said.
Official sources said the ‘Gole Mahal’ belonged to one of the family members of the royal family of the State, who had sold it to a prominent business house of Jammu. The business house had further sold the land to a construction company, which had also raised a boundary wall around it.
“Now legally, the construction company is owner of the land unless the ‘Mahal’ was declared as heritage monument’’, sources said, adding that civil and police authorities have taken up the matter with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to declare it heritage monument for its preservation.
At the same time, police admitted that they couldn’t proceed legally against the construction company as they had purchased the land from a business house.
“We could only stop construction work and we have done that last night itself when the work was started by the construction company and we got a complaint. The work was stopped and police nafri deployed there to ensure that it was not resumed’’, sources said.
Infuriated over the incident, the civilians have also appealed to the State Government to get the monument declared a protected site.
“It is a sad act that this Dogra monument of Maharaja Pratap Singh and Maharaja Hari Singh has been damaged. The monument needs to be protected,” they said.
A three member panel, headed by the then Additional Deputy Commissioner had recommended in 2011 that the monument be declared protected site.
However, not much has been done in this regard.
Former Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah and several other leaders were kept in detention in Gole Mahal during the Emergency, sources recalled.
Meanwhile, police said they were watching the situation and would act after taking all possibilities into account.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel