The Archaeological Survey of India has issued a stop-work notice to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on the proposed Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate section at Janpath.
Work on the corridor had begun last week with DMRC planning traffic diversions for a year and putting up barricades along Janpath.
The notice was sent to the contractor for violating the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010. “The ASI has sent a notice to DMRC because the ongoing work falls within the regulated area of ancient monuments in the vicinity,” said ASI sources.
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According to the Act, any new construction is prohibited within 100 metres of a protected monument and there are restrictions on construction within 101 to 300 metres.
The proposed section passes through several ancient monuments including Jantar Mantar, Sunehri Masjid, Red Fort, Delhi Gate and Khuni Darwaaza.
The DMRC had sought permission from the yet-to-be-constituted National Monument Authority (NMA) for construction along this corridor, and the decision is pending.
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The DMRC confirmed that a stop-work notice was received on Wednesday.
“We have requested the ASI to grant permission for work to begin along this corridor since the NMA is yet to be constituted,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
According to ASI sources, the ongoing work at Janpath falls “within 250 metres of Jantar Mantar”.