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New Delhi: The15th century monument Bijri Khan’s Tomb located in south Delhi is being taken over by illegal slum and the authorities are hardly doing anything to save this heritage.
About 10-12 huts have come up around the ‘protected’ sandstone structure. The Mughal-era monument is situated just 10 metres from a busy road in Sector 3 of R.K. Puram. It has a slum on one side and a public toilet right next to it. The DLTA tennis courts that will host the Commonwealth Games next year and draw thousands of visitors is a few hundred metres from it.
The historical structure has lost all of its former glory. The outer walls are damaged and empty glass and plastic bottles are strewn around. One cannot even realise seeing it that it belongs to the glorious Lodhi dynasty that ruled much of India before the Mughals.
Bijri Khan’s tomb is a conserved monument under the State Department of Archaeology (SDA) and is covered under by the Delhi Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 2004.
SDA consultant Kishan Lal said, “We have no infrastructure to remove the encroachments nearby. Our first target it to protect the monument. The maintenance of the surrounding area is the responsibility of the civic body and land development authority. It is their job to remove the slums.”
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