GUWAHATI, Sept 20 - Fifty per cent of the work for refurbishing the 141-year-old historic North Brook Gate in the city has so far been completed. This was informed by the officials of the Assam chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) at the latest meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the project held here recently. INTACH, Assam has been implementing the Rs 28-lakh North Brook Gate Refurbishment Project.
According to minutes of the meeting, the members of the Monitoring Committee decided to reconstruct the northern side (riverside) of the North Brook Gate, keeping its original look. It also decided to undertake the work to protect the sub-structure in the next phase in consultation with the State�s Public Works Department (PWD-Building). The committee expressed satisfaction with the work already executed by the INTACH Chapter under the project.
The reason behind the tilting of the northern crest of the gate has so far remained unknown and the INTACH Assam officials told the meeting that after digging eight to ten feet below the surface, they noticed no tilting in the sub-structure.
But the committee members were of the opinion that since the gate is a monolithic structure, tilt in its northern crest may drag the structure northward at any moment.
In the face of such apprehensions, the representatives of the State�s Directorate of Archaeology opined that the northern side of the gate should be reconstructed after proper documentation.
The representative from the State�s PWD suggested that sheet piling or river protection works should be resorted to for strengthening the foundation of the structure after getting the soil report.
The Managing Director, Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) said that though protection of the structure�s foundation was very important, it would require a bigger amount than the present sanctioned amount of Rs 28 lakh. He therefore suggested that the work to protect the foundation be undertaken in the next phase in consultation with the PWD (Building).
