Fort for sale

But130 km away at coastal Thal the fisherman with whom Kundanmal struck the deal react acerbically. 8216;8216;No official had ever cared to visit the fort and see how it has been falling apart till we decided to sell it!8217;8217; says Sheshnath Koli 38, the burly headman of Thal8217;s Undherali community, one of the six that comprise Thal.

On the scenic coast, while the village8217;s fishermen, busy at work amidst stretches of drying fish catch, distance themselves from the deal, only mildly expressing a fear that Kundanmal will prevent them from casting their nets around the island, Koli argues otherwise.

8216;8216;It is in the best interests of the Undherali community, the seth Kundanmal, but above all the fort. Seth has promised to repair it, which we cannot afford, besides giving us jobs in the development he does on the island.8217;8217;

Koli asserts that Undheri Fort has been theirs since three generations, buttressing his point with a fraying 8216;7/128217; revenue assessment document that carries the names of six panchas of the community. 8216;8216;A vote of all the adult men of the community guided our decision to sell,8217;8217; he says maintaining the sale money8212;Kundanmal has already paid Rs 25 lakh8212;will stay in a community account.

A 22-minute boat ride from Thal through choppy seas to the island confirms the fort8217;s perilous state. Sea waves have eaten into the circular bastions in several places; a clamber over disintegrating basalt stone walls reveals dense vegetation inside running all over including the water reservoirs that once serviced troops, and rusting cannon heads are strewn amidst the ruins.

From the breaking ramparts, Mumbai8217;s crowded skyline may look hazy but it8217;s a mere 13 nautical miles 23.79 km away, indicating just why a city millionaire might covet the island: Undheri can be a priceless development opportunity, the perfect personal getaway, or as Raigad8217;s Resident Deputy Collector, Sanjay Yadav who has been scouting government archives for the island8217;s records puts it, 8216;8216;a unique status symbol.8217;8217;

Kundanmal, while maintaining that 8216;8216;Undheri is not a fort, only a fortified island8217;8217; is silent about what his plans for the site were, but his lawyer, Jaywant Cheulkar is vehement that they aren8217;t giving up yet. 8216;8216;We will move the Bombay High Court. How can the government cancel something their own official registered?8217;8217;

But Kundanmal is not the only claimant to this disintegrating piece of history. In 1992, a businessman Nilang Desai ha drawn up a similar agreement to sale with three other Undherali representatives for Rs 24 lakh. This January when Kundanmal advertised in an obscure local Raigad paper his intention to buy 8216;Thal8217;s C. S. No 3208217;, Desai moved the district court in April saying no such agreement can be made.

On May 23, when the case came up, district officials too filed a caveat stating the island was government property and the court should be hearing them too. But authorities admit that the official misdoing is allround and well predates the May 16 registration. The administration has found that a 1975 8216;non-agricultural land8217; entry by lower officials into the 8216;7/128217; revenue assessment document of the island is also illegal since it was never ordered by the authorities.

8216;8216;An inquiry has been launched to trace the officials who did it and if they are still in service, they will also be booked8217;8217;, said Jadhav.

THE archaeology department too had issued a preliminary notice way back in 1979 to list Undheri8212;but never put out the final protection notification. Which reiterates the larger point of neglect of historical sites.

Conservationist Brinda Gaitonde who surveyed Undheri last year for a government-commissioned report points out that most of 24 such forts in and around Mumbai, including remains of 10 in the megapolis itself, don8217;t even make the government list.

8216;8216;All of them deserve protected status and urgent attention.8217;8217; Hegde too admits that authorities must now look beyond themselves for finances and skills that might best protect Maharashtra8217;s historical sites including several that do not figure on his official list of 250.

A scheme to involve corporates in heritage maintenance was shot down by the state8217;s law and judiciary department some years ago. But the archaeology department is now hoping a reworked 8216;Adopt a Monument8217; scheme will be cleared. 8216;8216;Then if someone claims to be truly interested in a historical site8217;8217;, says Hegde, 8216;8216;he can join hands with us under the scheme and help restore and maintain it, instead of trying to buy it off.8217;8217;