AHMEDABAD: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) conducted three rounds of inspections before the caretakers of the Moti Shahi palace adhered to their warnings. AMC had to seek the help of the Shahibaug police to ensure that construction work was halted completely.

In a requisition to the Shahibaug police inspector under section 267 (2) of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation
(BPMC) Act, the AMC sought that routine rounds be conducted on the
premises to remove all persons involved in carrying out the illegal
construction. Notices were issued to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society (SVPMS) on August 3, August 7 and August 20.

“The SVPMS had not complied with our previous notices and continued the
construction work. Construction activity was discontinued only after we
approached the police to enforce the stay,” says a senior AMC official.

In the affidavit before Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice
PB Pardiwala, AMC deputy TDO Nilesh Baranda claimed, “It cannot be
denied that the Moti Shahi palace would/may qualify to have
architectural/cultural significance, however, it is required to be
clarified that the same is not a listed heritage structure as defined in
the General Development Control Regulations (GDCR) as amended by the September 2007 notification.”

The high-powered Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) had recently
said that the Moti Shahi palace will soon be part of the new inventory
of protected monuments which are outside the walled city.

Municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra had told TOI earlier, “The
new inventory list will be prepared by the Indian National Trust for Art
and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which specializes in preservation and
conservation of heritage buildings.” Mohapatra said meetings had already
been held with INTACH and it was devising a strategy for the inventory.
“The list will also contain buildings of heritage value in places other
than the walled city,” he said.