Vadodara: Part of crumbling Mandvi gate gives way; tender to restore 15th-century structure underway, say officials

On Tuesday night, parts of the weakened column of Mandvi Gate gave way, bringing up the issue of neglect and delayed intervention in restoring crumbling historic structures.

For residents, it also brought back memories of monuments lost to similar apathy, including the snow-white Nazarbaug palace, which stood across the road from Mandvi gate and was brought down by its owners in 2014 citing its “dilapidated state”.

On Wednesday, an official of the VMC told The Indian Express that even as the VMC is “processing” the tender, the reason why the column of Mandvi gate was crumbling is “heightened movement” due to music and vibrations in light of the ongoing festive period.

An officer of the VMC said, “In a meeting held with the Commissioner of Police, Vadodara city, in May this year, it was decided that the area will have restrictions on use of loud music to reduce the impact of vibrations on the structure. However, with the festivals having begun, there has been heavy movement and music being played in the area… The last few days have seen consecutive processions of the arrival of Lord Ganesha’s idols to various pandals in the old city for the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival.”

Mandvi gate, which blends Islamic and Gaekwad-period architecture, featuring intricately carved arches, stonework and captivating stories of the now-extinct Kila-e-Daulatabad from the times of the Mughal Sultanate in Gujarat, has been supported by metal beams under the arches by the civic body, which, experts have pointed out, is detrimental to the structure.

When contacted, Municipal Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu told The Indian Express that a team of the VMC will inspect the structure on Thursday. Babu said, “We will inspect the structure and undertake repairs at the earliest as we are serious about restoring it… The tender is under process.”

On April 13, The Indian Express had reported that the VMC is awaiting the “appointment of staff” to complete the process of issuing tender for the structure’s repair and restoration. This was because the Heritage Cell, the department which will now issue the tender, was yet to have officers being given charge for the posts of Additional Assistant Engineer (AAE) and Deputy Engineer to allow the tender proposal to pass through proper channels, the report highlighted.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Vadodara Commissioner of Police Narasimha Komar said that following proactive measures and taking communities into confidence, the police have prevented the use of high decibel music in the walled city area. “Beginning with the Parshuram Yatra earlier this year, we have strictly disallowed high decibel music through the walled city area that includes all four peripheral gates as well as Mandvi… We have taken communities and organisers into confidence along with DJ and music system businesses to understand the sensitivity of the impact on heritage structures. Accordingly, these groups have been using lower decibel traditional instruments such as drums while taking out processions in the old city. We have not had any violations of this understanding as the police is also stationed along the route during processions, ” Komar said.