RailEnquiry

AMA MASJID METRO STATION
Metro, ASI spar over ‘Mughal’ find
DMRC Refuses To Stop Station Work Till Site Is Formally Listed As Protected
Rumu Banerjee & Richi Verma TNN

New Delhi: The controversy regarding the discovery of Mughal-era relics near Jama Masjid Metro Station seems to have turned into a turf war between Delhi Metro and Archeological Survey of India (ASI). While the latter has recommended a further investigation of the site, DMRC is playing down the heritage tag of the findings.
    Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) sources say that till the discovered structure is listed as a heritage monument, Metro will not stop work at the site.
    “The location of the station box has already been changed once as the ASI felt
it was too close to Sunehri Masjid. Since it is yet to be determined whether the Akbarabadi mosque was located at the site in question, Delhi Metro will continue with construction work till we are advised to do otherwise,” a spokesperson for the agency said. The site is part of the original station box location.
    The new station is located 30-odd metre away from the previous location. Earlier, the Jama Masjid Metro Station was 103m away from Sunehri Masjid and 300m from Jama Masjid. Now, it is located at a distance of 130m from Sunehri Masjid and 200m from Jama Masjid. “Preliminary work is already underway. Digging for surveys, and soil and water table testing up to 18-20m is going on. Piling will start soon,” added the official.
    Meanwhile, ASI officials said the site has “huge potential for excavations that could unearth new archaeological discoveries”. The ASI team that visited the site last week and confirmed that the findings were from the Mughal-era, has submitted a report to director-general Gautam Sengupta, said sources. ASI is still unclear whether the relics belong to the Akbarabadi mosque.
    “Even before the ruins were found, we had served a notice to Delhi Metro asking them to stop work in that area as it falls in the regulated zone of Sunehri Masjid. This prompted them to change the alignment of the station. Till we complete investigation into the recent findings, Metro has been asked to halt construction work,” said an ASI official.
    National Monuments Authority (NMA) member-secretary Praveen Srivastava said irrespective of any archaeological findings, DMRC still is not allowed to carry out construction work within 300m of protected monuments like Sunehri Masjid without getting an NOC. “DMRC’s request is still pending with NMA,” Srivastava said.
    Conservationists say that ideally DMRC should integrate the findings with the Metro station. “The design of the station has to be altered and a new strategy needs to be adopted. The process will take much longer but the archeological remains can be integrated with the station. Many countries have done this,” said an archaeologist.
    Experts say that ASI has the power under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010 to take over any site which has confirmed evidence of historical remains. Further action will be initiated by ASI only after studying the recommendations of the Delhi circle team, added officials.
    Officials said that as the matter had already been brought to chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s notice, there was a strong possibility that the area could be taken over by the department of archeology under the Delhi government.


The ASI team that confirmed the artefacts were from the Mughalera has submitted its report to the director-general