The much talked about plan for re-development of the historic Jama Masjid, which has been hanging fire for over four years since it was conceptualised, is yet to see the light of day despite being approved by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
According to the project consultants roped in by the civic body, lack of will and availability of funds for the Rs.150-crore project appears to be the main reason behind the delay.
The project is aimed at redeveloping and beautifying the area around the Jama Masjid mosque. It was formulated by the civic body after the Delhi High Court directed it in 2004 to conserve and redevelop the structure while hearing a public interest litigation on the condition of the mosque. The project envisages redevelopment of the existing Meena Bazar with 650 shops of uniform size in a single-storey structure and a single-storey shopping complex along Dargah Sheikh Kallimullah besides creation of parking lots at Parade Grounds and Chandni Chowk.
An architect connected with the project said: “The DUAC cleared the project in June 2009 and the MCD Standing Committee also gave its go-ahead in September 2009. It was decided thereafter that a detailed project report would be prepared and work would begin by the year end, but nothing has moved since then as the MCD is yet to take the initiative. The project is of significance and needs to be pushed through.”
“About Rs.50 crore had also been committed for the project by the Delhi Government but no funds have been received yet. We have been informed by the civic body that the project file has been moved to the Lieutenant-Governor’s Office which is expected to clear some funds so that the project can start soon. We have already gone beyond the call of duty to see this mammoth project through after battling several roadblocks and oppositions from various quarters and managing to get the major stakeholders on board,” he added.
However, Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra while admitting that no funds have been received from any party yet, said the reason for the project delay were that approvals took time in coming.
“The process for calling tenders for preparation of the detailed project report is on. The project would be undertaken in phases and we would be issuing tenders for phase one of the work which would be taken up for completion before the Commonwealth Games. All necessary approvals have been granted and funds from the Delhi Government are awaited. The delay occurred not due to lack of funds being released but because of getting approvals from various civic and heritage bodies,” he added.
