Title - Nila Gumbad work off track

NEW DELHI: Conservation of early Mughal-era monument Nila Gumbad has hit a wall with Northern Railway using part of the earmarked land to store material. While work inside the monument continues, that on the exterior settings has been stopped till the land is cleared. ASI director-general Praveen Srivastava has written to the railways. The project is being undertaken by Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) with co-funding from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. Officials said the railways continued to dump material at the site of the monument owned by ASI, so the exterior settings cannot be worked upon. "Removal of of pink plaster layers, applied here as recently as 2003, has revealed original ornamental patterns that are being carefully restored by art conservators trained during the Humayun's tomb conservation,'' said an AKTC official.

The Nila Gumbad is named after the turquoise blue tiles used by the Mughal builders to cover the dome. Many of the tiles have fallen due to vibrations caused by trains. As part of the project, efforts will be made to insulate the monument from the jerks caused by poorly maintained railway tracks. "The restoration will make sense only if the road bifurcating Nila Gumbad from Humayun's tomb is shifted, as agreed upon by the railways in a 2010 MoU with the ASI. This will allow millions of annual visitors at the tomb to visit this marvel and to avoid sanctions from Unesco,which were imposed on the Hampi world heritage site over a bridge bifurcating the site,'' said an official.

Srivastava wrote to the DRM northern railways requesting that a 2010 agreement be adhered to and AKTC be allowed to continue works as planned. In response, say ASI sources, the railways have requested recently re-built enclosure walls be demolished. ``This while the railways have built ugly, tall concrete fencing within the prohibitied zone of Humayun's tomb without any permissions,'' said officials. "The determined effort of the Railways to continue to vandalize a world heritage site is shocking. Especially since in lieu of the proposed development, alternate structures have already been built for the railways,'' said project director, AKTC Ratish Nanda.

Conservationists are hoping the issue is resolved soon. With the blue tiles already being prepared in kilns at Humayun's tomb, Nila Gumbad will hopefully soon stand proud once again in all it's Mughal grandeur, claimed ASI officials.