The Times of India             22.08.2013

Aurangabad Municipal Corporation may seek Rs 11cr for revamping heritage structures

AURANGABAD: The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is planning to approach the state government for sanctioning funds worth Rs 11 crore for the beautification of heritage sites in its jurisdiction and carrying out work on diverting traffic around them. Besides, the civic body is also planning to ask the state government to provide funds to the tune of 2% of the AMC's total budget for the maintenance work of the heritage structures.

The issue came up for discussion on Wednesday during a meeting of the officials of civic body, state archeological department officials and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).

"The work of traffic diversion is likely to begin in the next two months," said Jayant Deshpande, chairman of the civic body's heritage conservation committee. "There are as many as 144 heritage sites in the city that come under the jurisdiction of AMC. However, more heritage sites have been identified which will be added in the existing list," Deshpande said.

At present, traffic movement is allowed through heritage gates such as Mehboob Darwaza, Bhadkal gate and Makai gate.

A three-member committee was formed during the meeting, which will survey and identify more heritage sites that have not been enlisted yet. "Efforts will be taken to promote these sites as tourist spots and boost tourism," Deshpande added.

The civic body has no separate allotment in its budget for the conservation of heritage sites and the maintenance work is completely dependent on the available funds. "Besides asking to sanction funds worth Rs 11 crore, we will also ask the government to make provisions to procure at least 2% of the AMC's total budget, which would help in making the conservation work financially independent," Deshpande said.

Due to paucity of funds, various religious trusts and MTDC are also being approached for direct funding.

The AMC has not conducted any survey about the existing condition of heritage structures. "The repairs are only done as and when the cracks or any severe damage is visible," Deshpande said.

Talking about the encroachments around the heritage structures, Deshpande said that time and again drives are undertaken to remove the unauthorised structures. However, the efforts have proved to be ineffective and strong machinery is needed to keep a tab on them, he said.