Rain dampener on conservation work

Agencies a worried lot as lime plastering on the monuments has been washed away by rains

Incessant rains and the resultant waterlogging have undone a lot of the conservation work on monuments before the Commonwealth Games over the last week.

Even as the Capital received around 200 mm of rain over the last five days, fresh coats of lime plaster on many monuments were washed away.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the State Department of Archaeology, which are sprucing around 60 monuments for the Games, now find themselves in a tight spot. Landscaping work being done around monuments have also received a setback.

Conservationists at the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), who are carrying out the conservation work for the archaeology department, said they had been having a tough time over the last one week. “Lime plastering takes a longer time to set on the surface of monuments, and at least two days of exposure to the sun is required. But with heavy rains lashing the city, we have been finding it difficult to undertake any plastering work,” an INTACH official said.


“Humidity is also high, which has made the setting process difficult. Though work in the interiors of the monuments is still being carried out, plastering work on the exteriors has been hit hard. When rains lash at fresh coats of plaster, they get washed away. Even plastic covers haven’t been of much use,” he added.

However, A G K Menon, Convenor, Delhi Chapter, INTACH, seemed optimistic. “The rains have been playing spoilsport, delaying work on the monuments. However, we expect to finish all the conservation work in time for the Games. We had an August-end deadline for wrapping up work at the sites, but this is most likely to be pushed to the beginning of September now,” he said.

Of the 14 monuments that INTACH has been working on, monuments like Makbara Paik and Phoota Gumbad (inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium) have turned out to be the worst affected. Some monuments such as an unnamed tomb in Lodhi Gardens had to be repainted thrice over the last few weeks.

The ASI, which has more monuments to work on than the Archaeology department, also expressed similar concerns. Largescale restoration work at sites like Tughlaqabad and Siri Fort were also adversely affected.