5 months on, collapsed Mughal-era heritage wall awaits restoration

Srinagar, July 5: The Mughal-era heritage wall in Downtown that collapsed five months ago is awaiting repairs.

The locals of Makhdoom Sahib (RA) locality said that part of the Mughal-era heritage wall, also called Kalai, collapsed in Srinagar in early February, and authorities are sitting on the restoration process.

The locals said that the incident had significantly damaged the famous heritage site and defaced the area. They said that if the wall is not restored, it will further weaken other parts of the wall and turn the historic site into ruins.

“Given the importance of the wall, it should have been repaired by now. This wall collapsed over five months ago, and the repair has not even started. This indicates a very non-serious approach when it comes to the restoration process of such monuments,” a local said.

The commuters in the area said that authorities have not even cleared the debris lying on the side of the road properly. They said that during the recent macadamisation process, the concerned department had to navigate the debris to macadamise the road, which now looks unsightly.

“This issue is hindering the smooth traffic flow, especially during peak hours and causing inconvenience to commuters. The pedestrians also don’t have a proper way to move. We hope the authorities will soon initiate the work and address the issue accordingly. The macadamisation process was also hindered, and had there been no debris, authorities could have properly macadamized the patch there,” said Manzoor Ahmad, a commuter.

They said that hundreds of devotees use the road to reach Makhdoom Sahab (RA) Shrine and are also facing inconvenience.

Mushtaq Ahmad Beigh, Deputy director, Archives, Archaeology, and Museums, Kashmir, said they will restore the wall soon.

“We have many restoration projects in the pipeline, and this collapsed wall is also in the plan. We will reconstruct this wall accordingly,” Beigh said.