Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The royal Lalbagh Palace of Indore, which used to be the residence of the Holkar rulers, is now in the hands of the civic bodies of the city. But, due to slackness in their working style, the palace is now abandoned and running to decay and disrepair over the past three years.
In June 2019 The state archaeology department, Indore Development Authority (IDA) and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) planned a project worth Rs 23 crore to restore the palace, including its ceiling, furniture, tiger trophies and paintings. It was also decided to restore he garden of the palace. The project was with a deadline of one and a half years for the completion of work.
Work going on at the palace. |
Work going on at the palace. |
Claimed antique flower pot with historic significance. |
In July 2020 The Indore Development Authority introduced the renovation work of the Lalbagh Palace in their yearly budget and sanctioned Rs 5 crore for it. The work was to be done on the ground area of the Lalbagh Palace, including reconstruction of the walls and other paraphernalia.
By Sept. 2020 The work for the development of the premises of Lalbagh was started by Indore Municipal Corporation, but, due to a lack of funds, the responsibility of the work was transferred to Indore Smart City Development Limited.
Smart City starts work
The ISCDL started the work with a deadline to complete it by mid-2021, but it has been delayed till now. The work which was planned to be done was to develop a cemented track around Lalbagh Palace, regenerate the garden area around it and some other work on a budget of Rs 15 crore, according to Smart City’s official sources, who requested anonymity.
Smart City gives up on Lalbagh’s garden work
Now, the ISCDL has decided to complete just the cemented track work at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore and they dropped their plan for regenerating the garden and other work, said Smart City officials.
But, despite a decreased workload, ISCDL is struggling to complete the work. The sources involved in the work of this Rs 1.5-crore project said that the work deadline was January 31, 2022, but now, it will get delayed by a month or more because, according to the plan, special stones are planned to be placed in some parts of the project area.
‘Six options of stones have been sent in December to senior officials of Smart City and the archaeology department to sanctioned one type of stone which will be placed. But, till January 4, no decision was taken on that,’ said one of the sources involved in the project.
Sources also said that, recently, Smart City CEO Rishav Gupta and other officials had inspected the place and instructed contractor Ashwin Jain to complete the work as soon as possible. However, the amount of work remaining will take at least another month even if all the decisions are taken immediately; some decisions are still hanging fire.
Work going on at present
Smart City is developing the cemented stretch around the palace. The state archaeology department, IMC and IDA are doing the work of restoration of the ceilings of 45 rooms on two floors of the palace at an expense of Rs 11 crore
‘Big revenue loss’
‘We’re facing a huge loss of revenue due to the work delay. Entry into the palace is permitted and people can also roam around the premises, but, due to construction work, no one clicks photos near the palace. Footfalls of tourists and visitors have decreased significantly,’ an official from the state archaeological department said
Heritage flower pot kept as junk
An antique flower pot of the Holkar era of historic significance has been kept as junk on the Lalbagh premises. According to information gathered from trusted sources, the flower pot has an England casting on it which was very rarely done in Indore—or even in India—at that time. It is claimed that the pot belongs to that time and is antique in itself. However, without carrying out a forensic test on the pot, it cannot be said how old it is
(Tomorrow: Krishnapura Chhatri)
