asi-to-restore-delhi-s-400-year-old-barapulla-bridge

The historic 400-year-old Mughal-era Barapulla Bridge, now in a sad state of disrepair, in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, will be restored by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) within three months.

 

Raj Niwas officials said in Capital Delhi that the ASI Director General had assured Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena of timely completion of work when Saxena inspected the structure on Sunday.  

 

The bridge is in bad shape with heavy encroachments and is being used as a garbage dump by people from localities close by, they said.

 

Saxena had directed the removal of encroachment and restoration of the bridge in mission mode. Local residents and representatives have also supported the LG's initiative, officials said.

 

The 200-metre long bridge was handed over to the ASI on Sunday for the restoration work.

 

During his Sunday visit to the bridge, The LG was accompanied by Delhi chief secretary and ASI director general, the officials said.

 

The ASI official assured the LG of complete restoration within three months. He also directed the agency to undertake the restoration work while maintaining the originality of the structure and install proper lighting on the bridge once work was completed, they added.

 

Saxena lauded the efforts of all agencies concerned, including the Delhi Municipal Corporation, Public Works Department, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Railways and ASI, for their joint efforts to remove encroachments on and around the bridge and desilt the drain below, a Raj Niwas official said.

 

With concrete efforts of the agencies, the encroachments were removed within a week and  desilting was being carried out, the official said.

 

ASI will take up the restoration work immediately after the desilting is completed, he added.

 

The bridge, which was built by Minar Banu Agha under Emperor Jehangir's tutelage nearly 400 years ago was named "Barapulla" due to its 12 piers and 11 arches.

 

According to historians, the bridge, considered to be one of Delhi’s most beautiful structures, was built in 1628, and the road between the bridge and the Humayun's Tomb was a wide tree-lined path.

 

It is believed that the Mughals used the bridge to cross the Yamuna River to reach Nizamuddin Dargah and Humayun's Tomb when travelling to and from Agra, the then capital, the official said.