Though Ahmedabad has bagged the World Heritage City tag, a look back at the seriousness, or lack of it, with which the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) handled our monuments may leave one perplexed. Experts say the civic body never had a plan for its heritage.
That Ellisbridge or Rani Sipri mosque could have long been pulled down to make way for new structures may seem impossible to fathom now, but, if AMC had its way, then these structures could have been demolished much before Ahmedabad submitted the dossier of its heritage structures to Unesco.
It was in 2013 that then mayor Asit Vora felt that the 125-year-old Ellisbride, which is now inscribed in the heritage list of the city, should be brought down. It had taken several protests and campaigns for the civic body to bury the proposal.
Recalls Badruddin Shaikh, the then leader of opposition in AMC, “We held a signature campaign against the plan to raze Ellisbridge. The BJP government was hell bent on tearing down the structure and didn’t want to repair it. They saw it as a useless bridge.”
AMC’s disregard for historical monuments dates back to 2006, when it proposed to bulldoze two mosques, over 400 years old, among many other structures. The purpose? Road widening.
“The civic authority decided to demolish two Islamic monuments that have now been inscribed by Unesco— Rani Sipri mosque, which is a protected monument of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Siraji Sayad’s Darghah. Though not an ASI listed monument, it is a historical dargah nevertheless,” said Rizwan Kadri, city-based historian.
“Legal intervention saved the two monuments. The civic body has, in the past, considered razing Old Jumma Masjid for a new road. It had even announced the plan, but dropped it later,” added Kadri.
The historian said the restoration of city walls shows the civic body’s negligence. Proper attention was not paid during the restoration of Khanpur Darwaja. In 2016, repair works were carried out without putting protective measures in place and it cost a citizen his life.
“AMC doesn’t have a proper vision for the protection of heritage. One of city’s tombs, Wali Gujarati Mazar, was destroyed by a mob during the 2002 riots at Shahibaug. With complete indifference, the civic body constructed a road there, instead of replacing the wrecked tomb with a new one,” said Kadri.
The three structures that the AMC once wanted to demolish and the Unesco has now inscribed as heritage structures:
*Ellisbridge
*Rani Sipri mosque
*Siraji Sayad’s Darghah
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Ellisbridge")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}