Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore will get back its royal Rajwada Palace in a new condition in the New Year and, by the month of December, all the work on the palace will be completed. Smart City superintendent engineer BR Lodhi said that, now, almost all the work had got completed and only about 5 per cent remains.
“Now, only the touch-up job and a few other jobs are pending, which, probably, will get completed within a few days,” Lodhi added.
The main gate of Rajwada was opened on Sunday morning. The iron pipes which were installed for construction were also removed. Plaster and electrification jobs are yet to be done in many places and have been targeted to be completed within a month.
History of Rajwada Palace restoration
After the palace wall collapse on May 29, 2017, a tender was floated by Indore Smart City Development Limited of Rs 19.92 crore for conservation, restoration and redevelopment of Rajwada (Phase 1) with completion period of 24 months (expected by May 2019)
On December 4, 2017, a team of senior officials of the district administration and Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) inspected heritage buildings in the Gopal Mandir area where the civic body carried out a demolition drive a day before causing an effect on the heritage building
On May 14, 2019, IMC issued a termination notice to a private agency engaged in conservation and restoration of Rajwada for failing to complete the work on time. With the notice, IMC also issued a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on the contractor
On November 11, 2020, the urinals opposite the Rajwada Palace were suspected to have caused cracks in the palace, said professor Dr Arum Menon, the wood expert invited from IIT-Chennai on his visit to Rajwada Palace on November 11 for inspection
On June 10, 2021, Indore municipal commissioner—at an inspection meeting she took regarding the work—gave a deadline of October 15, 2021, to the officials to complete the rejuvenation and restoration work on Rajwada Palace which was delayed for the past five and a half years but the work has not got completed, so far
On July 26, 2021, Indore Smart City Development Limited CEO Rishav Gupta gave a deadline of December 2021 to get the work completed, but, till January 2022, much of the work was pending and officials and workers working there, on anonymity, claimed it would take almost another year—or a few more months—for the entire work to get completed
On August 13, 2021, at a review meeting held by MP Shankar Lalwani, municipal commissioner Pratibha Pal said the work would be completed by December 15, 2021
On June 27, 2022, Pal inspected the palace and gave a deadline of July 30 for completion of the work
