Monday, June 9, 2008

"Old Delhi's New Lung at Kashmere Gate area"


Its really exiting that Delhi will be hosting Commonwealth Games 2010 and already many changes are taking place.This is a very good news for tourist coming for their vacations and Locals.The Walled City will soon have a small replica of the historic India Gate.As per Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) ,as part of their conservation plans for heritage sites related to the 1857 uprising ASI will be developing the green area around Kashmere Gate on the same lines as that of India Gate. Expected to take a month to complete, this area will provide a lung for the congested Walled City.
The work has already been started a month ago on this Gateway.
Major part of the plan was to remove the adjacent encroachments by locals and slum dwellers. Due to its location near the congested Old Delhi till a few months ago, a huge garbage pile was seen right next to the gate.o prevent further misuse of the monument, ASI has fenced the entire area with a single entry/exit point near Ritz cinema. The malba and garbage surrounding the Kashmere gate has been cleared. Benches will be placed within the new park area.After a month entire area within the fences is about 400 sq mtrs and we will grow grass and plant trees.which is a good idea to give visitors a chance to come with their families and enjoy a green area even at night.The area around Kashmere Gate will be excavated to bring its buried portion to the surface. Standing adjacent to a bustling market and inter-state bus terminal, Kashmere Gate had lost much of its glory with the passage of time.
History of Gates -
This Mughal-period gate is one of the four surviving gates to Shahjanabad and is the only one with two arched openings in the Capital. The only other gate to have more than one arched opening is Tripolia Gateways in North Delhi with three arched openings.
Kashmere Gate got its name as the royal processions used to pass through it on their trips to Kashmir. Much of the structure was damaged in the 1857 uprising by the British as their soldiers stormed into Delhi through the gate, making still-visible holes in the monument with their cannons.

Kashmere Gate forms one of the four surviving gates to Mughal King Shah Jahan's empire, the other three being Delhi Gate, Turkman Gate and Ajmeri gate, all in a delicate state. Historians fear that if not conserved properly, the gates could be lost to a rapidly growing civilisation like the Kabuli gate or Mori gate have been.
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