JAISALMER: It would be right if Unesco world heritage site monument Jaisalmer Fort is not called Sonar Fort , as its glow has faded and the yellow stone structure, is in a dilapidated state.There is serious leakage of water in the fort and there are many loopholes in the recently laid sewerage line system, due to which the fort is losing its glory.Seepage of sewerage water is affecting maximum houses in the fort due to which the walls of the fort are becoming hollow. If this situation continues then there is a possibility of disaster resulting in damage to lives and properties.Because of water seepage, the wall of Sonar Fort had fallen earlier, it is being reconstructed.After the earlier laid sewerage lines failed, a project was made to lay new sewerage lines by spending crores of rupees to get rid of the seepage problem. RUIDP was given the work of laying the lines and the project was worth Rs 9 crore, However, the contractor did the work in Rs 2.70 crore. After the lines were laid and functional the seepage problem persists. The problem as and according to experts, serious efforts are required to stop this seepage.New sewerage line was laid and started, but water is leaking when one goes towards Shiv Road in the fort. There is continuous leakage in many houses due to which walls of the fort now quite hollow. With a population of 3,000 people, the risk is too much and there is always the danger of any wall caving in.Vimal Gopa, a leading businessman in tourism and resident of the fort said the work of recently laid sewerage line is of substandard quality. The agency to whom the work was entrusted gave it to four new contractors who further sublet the work. The recent work has not been done under supervision of any expert. No officer of RUIDP monitored from time-to-time and today too water seeps into many houses. Lalit Purohit , a resident of the fort said the state government sanctioned huge budget for laying sewerage line, but without any supervision of technical experts, the new sewerage line has totally failed and the money spent has been wasted.He said that during that time fomer RUIDP chairman Ambrish Kumar had stopped the work as he found many mistakes. He asked the people involved to redesign the project, but after his transfer the work started again with old design.Gokul Vyas in whose house water is continuously seeping said that basement of his house stinks due to dirty water. He has requested the authorities many times to pay heed to his problem but so far there has been no solution. Lalit Vyas, Chandan Singh, Nawal Vyas and many others are facing same problems in their homes.Councillor from Sonar Fort, Arvind Vyas said RUIDP has not connected more than a dozen houses with sewerage line, especially houses in the lane behind the Jain temple and in Kotadi Pada. Due to this water is getting into the walls and making them hollow. There are many mistakes in laying the sewerage line due to which water is getting into the foundation of the fort making it weak and hollow. Due to overflowing of water, tourists are also facing problems.RC Saini, executive engineer with RUIDP said 450 connections were to be made in the fort and it has been done and now sewerage water is overflowing. Water leakage could be due to old drains or water flowing from taps. "The area near the wall is under ASI and we cannot do anything," he said. He added that those houses in which connection has not been given are under stay order and the area comes under ASI.Shikha Jain, director Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage (DRONAH) and ICOFORT coordinator-ICOMOS India said. "Failure of Jaisalmer Fort wall is a serious warning sign that the world heritage site may go into danger list unless the cause is arrested immediately."She added that the fort can only be saved if all agencies work in cohesion with the local residents. The fort wall, even if rebuilt, will fall again until the sewerage infrastructure is functioning fully with no seepage into the hill and until all encroachments and new illegal constructions are completely stopped.

Stay updated with all the Latest Jaipur headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.