New Delhi: The Delhi Jal Board, which is located on the premises of a 1418 structure declared as a heritage monument by the Archaeological Department, allegedly demolished the structure and constructed a luxurious bungalow in its place. Following this, the Delhi Vigilance Department has now issued a show cause notice to the then CEO of Delhi Jal Board and IAS officer Udit Prakash Rai for allegedly demolishing a historical monument.
In January 2021, after visiting a 15th-century monument in the Delhi Jal Board's Lajpat Nagar premises, the Archaeological Department wrote a letter to the Jal Board for providing an entrance for the monument. In January 2023, when the ASI officials again visited the site, they saw a luxurious bungalow in the place where the monument stood two years ago.
The newly constructed bungalow is made the official residence of the CEO of Jal Board. The actual heritage structure was built in 1418 under the rule of the Sayyid dynasty and is mentioned as a palace in ASI's list of Muslim and Hindu monuments. It was made of brick and red sandstone.
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The Vigilance Department has said in the show cause notice that the new bungalow has been built in 700 sqm in the place of the monument. Only 403 sqm space is earmarked for Type 8 quarters. Udit Prakash Rai, the then CEO of Jal Board, was entitled to Type 5 housing. According to the notice, about Rs 4 crore has been spent on the project.
The report on the demolition of the monument was submitted after a joint inspection by officials of the Archaeological Department and Jal Board in January this year. It was said that in December 2020, the officials of the Archaeological Department found two structures here. One of these was the entrance and the other was the main building of the said palace. The January 2023 inspection team found that only one structure (gateway) was left at the site.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva has written a letter to Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena, requesting him to order a high-level inquiry. The Delhi BJP president has said that it normally costs around Rs 15 crore to build a bungalow of 600 metres. It is surprising how this budget was approved and the role of the then CEO Udit Prakash and his then-in-charge minister Satyendar Jain in approving the construction amount should be investigated.
