The Archaeological Survey of India has stopped work on a new bridge across the Yamuna here as it is very close to a Mughal-era monument.
Superintending archaeologist A.R. Siddiqui said: “We asked the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Ltd to stop construction and seek clearance from ASI h
eadquarters in New Delhi.” New rules in force mandate that any construction within 300 metres of a protected monument could be done only with approval from the ASI headquarters.
The monument in question is Etmauddaula, built by Noor Jahan, the favourite wife of Mughal emperor Jehangir, as a mausoleum for her father Mirza Giyas Beg. The bridge was due to be completed before the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October. It is now unlikely to be completed as the ASI headquarters is standing firm on enforcing the new norms.
Site workers and engineers said over half the work was already over. Conservationists in Agra are particularly happy, calling the ASI’s action “long overdue”. Said Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society president Surendra Sharma: “They should not have allowed it in the first place — hardly 200 metres from the Etmauddaula.”
Local conservationists are particularly angry as the bridge, in violation of the original design, suddenly turned right — blocking the view of the beautiful Etmauddaula, which is even older than the Taj Mahal.
—IANS