15 th century Delhi monument pulled down to build top official’s bungalow
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New Delhi: A remarkable monument dating back to the Pathan period in15 th century has been razed in Delhi to give way for an official bungalow.
Udit Prakash Rai, former Jal Board chief who is currently posted in Mizoram, is reportedly accused of facilitating the demolition as well as allotting the new bungalow to himself when it was built, according to NDTV.
The Vigilance department on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to Udit Prakash Rai who is a 2007 batch IAS officer for allegedly demolishing the monument and building a new government accommodation in its place to move in as the then CEO of the DJB, according to The Indian Express.
Though Rai was posted out in Mizoram this year, his family still lives in the new accommodation.
The report also said that Jal Board was to hand over the monument to the Archaeological Survey of India.
But the officials found the monument missing during a joint inspection in January, the Vigilance Department's notice said on Wednesday.
The palace, sitting in Delhi’s Jal Vihar, was under the jurisdiction of the Delhi Jal Board.
It is the only remnant of the Khizrabad city founded by Khizr Khan of the Sayyid dynasty, according to report.
Udit Prakash Rai has been given two weeks to respond to the Vigilance notice for vacating the place.
The Archaeological Survey sought its handover in January 2021 which, according to the Vigilance Department, did not happen after Udit Prakash Rai had blocked the handover.
People in the neighbourhood of the monument reportedly said that a bungalow has been built in its place, and there used to be ‘fort-like structure over a large area’ and only some ruins are left behind.
Political parties including the BJP and Trinamool Congress have come out questioning the demolition of the monument.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva wrote to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena demanding ‘high-level investigation’.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra tweeted to say that only in India a fifteenth century monument was demolished to raise government official’s bungalow.
Moitra asked the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy to look into the matter.