Restoration of heritage buildings on in K’thala

Aparna Banerji 

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 20 

The Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board is all set to restore four structures in Kapurthala district at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore.

Under Phase I of the Infrastructure Development Investment Programme for Tourism (IDIPT) project, initiated by the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board, as many as four heritage structures of the district are being restored. These include the Darbar Hall which houses the main administrative complex of the district, Gol Kothi, Gulabi Kothi— also known as the Bhoot Bangla— and the Baggi Khana, which currently houses the police headquarters.

While the restoration of the Darbar Hall has been going on for the last few months, scaffolding has currently been put up at the hall and a meticulous cleaning of tiles and intricate work is taking place in the hall. 

A total of Rs 11 crore has been allocated for the restoration of buildings of which Rs 3 crore is being spent on the Darbar Hall and Rs 8 crore on the restoration of Gol Kothi, Gulabi Kothi and the Baggi Khana.  

While the district has several heritage structures which are up for restoration, these four buildings are being restored under phase I of the project.

AK Mishra, project manager, Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board, said, “The restoration of the Darbar Hall is going on in full swing and is expected to be completed this year because a substantial part of it has already been undertaken. However, the Gol Kothi, Gulabi Kothi and the Baggi Khana shall eventually follow. While both the Baggi Khana and the Gulabi Kothi already house offices, we have also issued instructions to the respective departments to commence work on these. In all, a time of about one and a half year shall be spent on restoring these heritage buildings. Once these are completed, work on the remaining buildings shall begin in a phased manner.”

While the restoration of many buildings in Punjab has been marred because of the use of cement or other substandard material, Mishra said the project for the restoration of the buildings had been cleared by experts and materials like lime and other authentic building material in consonance with the historic make of the buildings shall be used for their restoration.”

Shivdular Singh Dhillon, Project Director, Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board, said the restoration of other historic buildings like the Shalimar Bagh and Moorish Mosque has also been going on. “The restoration of Moorish Mosque has already been completed and only a small part is left. The restoration of the Darbar Hall is currently underway and the other structures shall follow suit in the next phase of the project.”

Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, Mohammed Tayyab, said, “A majority of the work is being undertaken by the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board. Work like the restoration of Moorish Mosque is being carried out under the auspices of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Since these are the nodal departments, a majority of the information is with them. I have been asking them to keep me informed though. The restoration of the Darbar Hall is also largely complete. It is being done meticulously.”