Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation Reconsiders Rs 11-Crore Proposal to Restore Indroda Fort

Months after inviting bids, the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation is rethinking its Rs 11-crore proposal to restore the 15th century Indroda fort after not finding it viable enough and with not much history available on it. Conceived by the former municipal commissioner JN Vaghela who was transferred out in May , his successor JS Prajapati, has placed it under reconsideration. Any decision related to it will now be taken after the newly elected body takes charge. Elections to the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation, currently ruled by the BJP, are scheduled on October 11. Earlier this year, GMC had proposed the restoration of Indroda Fort , which is believed to belong to the 15th century, although there is no definite recorded history of the place. Two bidders had qualified for the tender, but they had not been placed before the Standing Committee for ratification. Now with the Model Code of Conduct in place all elected bodies stand dissolved. Standing Committee Chairman in the outgoing body of GMC Gaurang Vyas said, “The Commissioner is considering whether to go ahead with the project or not. So, in that sense, it (the project) is in a postponement mode. He has kept it pending (probably thinking that) there is not much to be gained in spending such an amount. He has not cancelled it though.“ Vyas said that the newly elected body of GMC can take a decision on the project after the Commissioner puts in his views. Gandhinagar Municipal Commissioner J S Prajapati said, “We are thinking whether how fruitful it (the project) is for the corporation. We have still not decided to go ahead with this project. We are analysing the situation of surrounding land because there is no structural reforms condition (since at many places the structure is totally destroyed and has to be built fresh cost of which could be much bigger). We are much more interested to secure the government land. If the government land can be saved (from encroachment and developed for tourism) by rejuvenation of the fort, then and only then do we want to rebuild this fort.” “I will hold discussions and then put my view before the new body and then the new body will take a decision on this. As of now, this project is under reconsideration,” he added. A senior officer of GMC said that the fact that there is no definite history available of the fort is also one of the reasons behind reconsidering the project. Situated on the bank of the Sabarmati river, the fort goes by the name of the village it is located in- Indroda. It is the only heritage structure of the state capital, a younger city founded in 1965. Currently, barely anything remains of the fort’s ramparts, except for a broken bastion. As per an official note on the project, Indroda is a historical village, currently falling under Ward No. 4 of GMC, which has an important role in the formation and development of Gandhinagar city. The note, however, admitted that “no definite history of the centuries-old fort is available”. “Going by folklore Ahmedshah Badshah (the king who founded Ahmedabad in 1411), used the fort as his resting place when travelling from Ahmedabad to Delhi. His first stop was at a fort in Kali Gam (near Sabarmati area of Ahmedabad). After Indroda, he would stay a night at a fort in Sadra village (currently in Gandhinagar district). This (Indroda) fort was built on high cliffs. The location of the fort and the habitation around it is 40-50 feet higher than the Sabarmati river,“ the note added. The note also noted, “It seems that the construction of this (Indroda) fort was done during the time of construction of the fort in Sadra, i.e., around the 15th century. As per another folklore, Indroda was founded by King Indrasinh and the fort was built (then).” There is also another legend linking it with Indrani Mata, the patron goddess of Indroda village. According to the note, only 225 metres of the fort, whose ramparts ran across 800 metres in four directions, exists now. About 250 metres of the wall above the plinth level requires restoration, and around 400 metres of the wall is required to be built afresh, it stated. The walls are made from 65-centimeter-wide bricks with lime plaster. “From the walls of the fort, a 1.7-metre-high walkway existed for the security guards. It looks like the four corners of the fort were surrounded by four bastion-type structures. Only one bastion exists now,” the note further stated. The Indian Express has reported earlier about the proposed project where the municipal corporation had planned to restore the existing wall of the fort, rebuild the collapsed walls, horse stable, kitchen, hamam, viewing gallery, amphitheatre, walkway, gazebo, and four bastions, apart from landscaping.