The preservation work of Jaipur’s renowned Amer Fort is stuck between an authority set up to look over preservations and high court orders. on The current status, Anil Sharma reports
The world famous Amer Fort has been losing its sheen over the years, partly because of lack of maintenance work, and partly because of the vagaries of nature and pollution. To be fair, this grand historical monument has undergone restoration and preservation work for several years in the past. Unfortunately, in the last six years, controversies with respect to preservation funds usage has given a grey layer to the issue.
Talking to TSI, Abhinav Sharma, ombudsman for the fort appointed by the high court, said, “The Amer Development Management Authority was constituted during the Vasundhara Raje regime. In the name of restoration and management, the only thing it did was to start all sorts of commercial activities in different parts of the fort.” While that could be an extreme view (given that tourists we met did tell that they appreciate buying typically royalty branded items from within the fort), the high court recently decided to cancel all the commercial arrangements and activities within the precincts of the fort, and even stopped the restoration work that the Authority had taken up. The court was of the view that allowing commercial activities was outside the purview of the Authority and hence the decision (to start commercial activities) stood null and void. Sadly, although the court's order might have been intended towards ensuring that the Authority focuses purely on restoration, the collateral damage was that commercial activities – which are an active source to earn tourism earnings for both the state and its citizens – were stopped.
The response of the present Ashok Gehlot regime has been neutral to the court order; but the fact is that the Gehlot government has been proactive towards the restoration work of the Fort. Before the elections, Gehlot had promised to investigate the issues haunting the Amer Development Management Authority. Post elections, in the case of Amer Fort, despite the fact that the authority was set up by the opposing Raje lobby, Gehlot gave the green signal to the work initiated by the previous regime and also restarted commercial activities in the interests of the future of the Fort.
The world famous Amer Fort has been losing its sheen over the years, partly because of lack of maintenance work, and partly because of the vagaries of nature and pollution. To be fair, this grand historical monument has undergone restoration and preservation work for several years in the past. Unfortunately, in the last six years, controversies with respect to preservation funds usage has given a grey layer to the issue.
Talking to TSI, Abhinav Sharma, ombudsman for the fort appointed by the high court, said, “The Amer Development Management Authority was constituted during the Vasundhara Raje regime. In the name of restoration and management, the only thing it did was to start all sorts of commercial activities in different parts of the fort.” While that could be an extreme view (given that tourists we met did tell that they appreciate buying typically royalty branded items from within the fort), the high court recently decided to cancel all the commercial arrangements and activities within the precincts of the fort, and even stopped the restoration work that the Authority had taken up. The court was of the view that allowing commercial activities was outside the purview of the Authority and hence the decision (to start commercial activities) stood null and void. Sadly, although the court's order might have been intended towards ensuring that the Authority focuses purely on restoration, the collateral damage was that commercial activities – which are an active source to earn tourism earnings for both the state and its citizens – were stopped.
The response of the present Ashok Gehlot regime has been neutral to the court order; but the fact is that the Gehlot government has been proactive towards the restoration work of the Fort. Before the elections, Gehlot had promised to investigate the issues haunting the Amer Development Management Authority. Post elections, in the case of Amer Fort, despite the fact that the authority was set up by the opposing Raje lobby, Gehlot gave the green signal to the work initiated by the previous regime and also restarted commercial activities in the interests of the future of the Fort.
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