NEW DELHI: After a hitch of two years, restoration of the 16th century Sher Shah Darwaza also known as Lal Darwaza, one of the surviving entrances to the sixth city of Delhi, has resumed.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials, aware of the matter, said that work might be finished in two months.
Built by Pashtun ruler, Sher Shah Suri, the structure — a fine example of Ashlar and rubble masonry work — was partially damaged in 2012 because of heavy rains.
“After two unsuccessful attempts, we managed to get the contractor for the job. I am hopeful that we will be able to complete restoration in two months,” said an official, associated with the project.
In 2016, the ASI started its reinstatement, which was to be completed within a year. The work had come to abrupt halt in 2017 following an issue with the service provider engaged for the project, after which it remained suspended as no suitable labour contractor could be found. Later, rules for hiring contractors changed, which further delayed the conservation.
The ASI floated, in last two years, the tender for the project twice but no one had come forward. The officials said that one of the main reasons for cold response of the contractors was structure’s complexity — use of heavy Ashlars.
Ashlar masonry is made of large square-cut stones, used as a facing on walls of brick or stone rubble
He added that the decision to remove bricked support, raised to support the crumbling structure, will be taken after completion of the work. When the work was halted, around 50% conservation, including repairing the southern portion that had collapsed in 2012, had finished.
Unique masonry
Ashlar is a finely dressed stone, which is given the shape of bricks and has smooth edges and parallel faces, in rubble masonry, random uncut stones are fixed with mortar.
“Ashlars will be checked one by one and replaced if required. This is a taxing task as the weight of a few façade stones is around 2,000 kg,” said an official.