Buland Darwaza breached, Fatehpur Sikri sullied by illegal shops openly flouting Supreme Court order

Supreme Court's orders are clear on the preservation of heritage monuments such as Agra's Fatehpur Sikri and the Sufi shrine of Sheikh Salim Chishti.

The ruling outlaws private shops run within 100 m of the World Heritage site's premises.But when IndiaToday.in's reporter visited the site, he found shops and private businesses openly flouting the apex court's orders.

Vendors in and around the premises were found running their shops without any fear of the law.

The law

In its notification, the Supreme Court has specified that no one can pursue a private business in and around 100 m of any cultural heritage. However in Fatehpur Sikri, people are violating the rules abided by SC and vendors are placing their shops in the open.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which looks after the monument, has brought the matter to the notice of the local police station several times, but no action has been taken.To add to the illegal encroachments, many cases of looting and pickpocketing have been reported from within the premises, for which many have blamed the unauthorised shops.

Police turns a blind eye

Fatehpur Sikri's security is under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India. This is unlike the security of Taj Mahal, which comes under the policing of Central Industrial Security Forsce (CISF). At Sikri, security personnels hired by the ASI are on duty.

The ASI has given the contract to a private security agency which has put 46 guards are giving 24x7 duty. This certainly has not stopped the flouting of rules, because the local residents have clashed with the ASI-appointed security personnels whenever they tried to restrain locals from running private businesses in the premises.

The security guards have brought the matter several times to Agra police, which again has turned a blind eye to matter. When IndiaToday.in's investigative team tried to contact the city SSP Pratindar Singh, he refused to take calls or respond to text message.

His PRO said he return the calls after a while, which never happened.All unauthorized shops are captured in the CCTV Footage.

Shops openly flout rules

As shown in the image above, visitors are greeted with hundreds of illegal shops starting right from the beginning of the path to the steps of Buland Darwaza.

IndiaToday.in's cameras captured how these shops and its vendors fearlessly flouted the Supreme Court's rules. Buland Darwaza was built in 1601 A.D. by Akbar to commemorate his victory over Gujarat. It is the main entrance to the palace at Fatehpur Sikri, a town which is 43 km from Agra.

The Buland Darwaza is made of red and buff sandstone, decorated by white and black marble and is higher than the courtyard of the mosque. The monument is visited by thousands and lakhs of tourists every day.

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