Amritsar MC fails to implement MoU signed with ASI for upkeep of Ram Bagh

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, April 9

Even five years after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Amritsar Municipal Corporation regarding upkeep of the historic Ram Bagh, the civic body has failed to implement its terms and conditions till date.

Ironically, the MC never made any serious effort to implement the MoU and some of its previous office- bearers even encouraged encroachments at the historic garden. Former Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu had favoured the management of three clubs inside the garden and announced that the MC would support them during his tenure. A local NGO, Amritsar Vikas Manch and some other activists, had written to the Central Government several times to implement the terms and conditions of the MoU, signed between the Archaeological Survey of India and the Municipal Corporation to vacate the clubs, MC offices, vends and remove other encroachments from Ram Bagh.

On December 4, 2018, the MC and the ASI had submitted an agreement with the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) regarding the custodianship and functioning of the historical Ram Bagh. As per term number 16, the MC was supposed to initiate the process of shifting the clubs out of the garden for better management of the national monument. The MC had assured in the MoU that all encroachments including vends, offices, residential accommodations and other private enclosures would be removed.

Advocate PC Sharma, a local activist, said, “During these five years, Ram Bagh has become a parking space for all kinds of vehicles as the MC installed concrete tiles by removing green areas. In the name of Children’s Park, Amritsar Improvement Trust sublet a major area of the garden to a private firm, which also operates a paid parking. A number of food, juice and tea stalls can be seen. Concrete podiums have been constructed to feed pigeons and rats. The intention of the Municipal Corporation is very much clear — to destroy the environment of the garden in the interest of private players. If encroachments continue to grow in the garden, it will be hard to breathe in the garden in the coming days.” Ever since the agreement was signed, the condition of the Bagh has been deteriorating, he added.

Ram Bagh is a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and Rule 1959. The MC had agreed to remove several buildings and encroachments, including offices and food kiosks from the garden immediately. The then MC Commissioner Sonali Giri had mentioned in the agreement that the waste water being produced by these clubs was affecting the surrounding environment and monument. All commercial activities, including serving of liquor, are banned by the MC. But even after five years, the civic body hasn’t taken any initiative to implement the terms and conditions of the agreement.