Baroda palace’s beauty to remain intact

Vadodara: In a significant victory for heritage loving Barodians, the railways have agreed to shift the site of the proposed new building further away from the Pratap Vilas Palace in Lalbaug area. The railways submitted a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court wherein it said that the proposed building has been moved to a whole new location.
“It is further submitted that the new building was originally proposed at a distance of 56 feet from Pratap Vilas Palace, was shifted from a distance of 56 feet to 321 feet i.e. 265 feet further away and now as per the recent development to a whole new location i.e. to the land leased to NHSRCL meaning thereby that this will leave the front area also known as Raja Baug completely untouched and will not cause any obstruction to the view of Pratap Vilas Palace,” the affidavit filed in October read.
“The Supreme Court gave us a few days to respond to the affidavit and we said that we are satisfied with the new plan of the railways. But we also prayed in the court that we should reserve the right to approach the court again if any fresh course of action arises in the future. SC agreed to it and disposed of our special leave petition recently,” said advocate Jaydeep Verma, joint secretary, Heritage Trust, Vadodara had taken legal recourse to save the heritage palace.
“It’s a major victory for Barodians who had taken up the cause for preserving the aesthetics of the monumental palace and its surrounding ecology. The new building that would be constructed in the corner of their Lalbaug premises, won’t ruin the palace’s view and save its heritage value,” said Sameer Khera, vice-president of Heritage Trust.
The railways in 2020 decided to construct a four-storey building for National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI) and other offices in the 108-year-old Pratap Vilas Palace premises spread over 55 acres. The building was proposed in Raja Baug, which is right opposite the palace. The royal Gaekwad family and some prominent citizens opposed the project site as it would have ruined the façade and landscape of the palace.
An online petition was also filed to oppose the project site, and letters were also written to the union railway minister and Vadodara MP Ranjan Bhatt too had raised the issue in the Lok Sabha.