The historic Rifa-e-Aam club building that continues to wilt under the ravages of time and is in a completely dilapidated state, may soon get a new lease of life.
The district administration has now come forward to breathe new life into the crumbling structure.
For its preservation and renovation, divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob visited the site and took stock of the state it is in.
Expressing serious concern, Jacob directed the LDA vice-chairman, Prathamesh Kumar, to ensure immediate removal of all encroachments on a priority basis. Officials found that the caretaker who was living there earlier has occupied most of the rooms of the club building.
The commissioner instructed that the caretaker use only one room and all the remaining rooms should be handed over to the LDA. She instructed that if the caretaker does not vacate occupation, then legal action should be taken.
She instructed officials to start beautification work of the building and carry out renovation of the club building. She said that the entire premises should be thoroughly cleaned and the surrounding area should be beautified.
“Restoration work should be done as per the standards to ensure structural strength, so that the historicity of the building is maintained and safety is also ensured. Keeping in mind the condition of the building, all repair work should be done from the point of view of safety, so that no accident occurs,” she said.
Under the Smart City Project in 2021, the then divisional commissioner Ranjan Kumar had planned to restore over a dozen heritage structures within a 12-kilometer radius in Lucknow’s Qaiserbagh area, including the Rifa-e-Aam Club.
Now four years later, the health of the structure is that much worse, with most of its parts decaying and a portion of it being encroached by locals, who say they have been living there for ages. The ground is being used by the locals for parking vehicles and the corridors have been used by scrap dealers to dump stuff.
“The building is often used for marriage purposes but we don’t know who authorises it and where the money goes,” a heritage enthusiast said.
An officer from Lucknow Smart City Project, wishing anonymity, said that the detailed project report (DPR) was made in 2021 but no one seems to know what happened to it.
“The project was discussed in a meeting with the then divisional commissioner, and a proposal was made for it as well. However, the ball on this issue stopped rolling at that point, and no action was taken thereafter,” said an official of the Smart City Project.
Historical significance
The club was established by Nawabs and Taluqdars in 1860 to hold family functions. The club has witnessed many important events and movements on its premises pre-independence, including the signing of the famous Lucknow Pact (1916) between the Indian National Congress and Muslim League. The structure witnessed speeches of Mahatma Gandhi on Hindu-Muslim unity in 1920 and also Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel during the Swadeshi Movement in 1922.