Shops around the Main Guard Gate in Tiruchi on Monday. | Photo Credit: M. MOORTHY

Main Guard Gate and Rock Fort areas are known as the city’s shopping hub, with the teeming number of pavement stalls and big stores spilling out on to the roads and past the Teppakulam.

However conservationists feel that the encroachment of shops into what is actually a protected area with several historic monuments, should be dealt with more decisively by the authorities.

The Main Guard Gate is considered to be the only remaining part of what was once the gateway to the Rock Fort temple established in the Nayak period and developed by subsequent rulers, including the British.

At present, both sides of heritage structure are occupied by shops and metal barricades that have been set up to regulate traffic into the area. “It is impossible for us to get a clear view of the Main Guard Gate from both the NSB Road or the main thoroughfare, because most of the shops use part of the monument’s wall to anchor their tarpaulin sheets and other makeshift roofing,” a senior official of the Tiruchi Circle of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) told The Hindu.

The approach to the Tiruchi circle office of the ASI, opened in 2020, in the Main Guard Gate complex is also obscured by pavement shops.

Though a better legal framework has been put in place with the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act of 2010, the agency requires the assistance of local civic administration authorities to prevent encroachments.

“This is a historical site that needs to be projected prominently. Encroachments are a complicated problem that cannot be solved immediately; the local authorities could consider shifting the vendors to alternative grounds on East Boulevard Road. If we reroute the public transport to the new location, the stalls will benefit as well in the new commercial hub,” said Kannan Ramakrishnan, a civic activist.

The proposal made by Tiruchi Mayor M. Anbazhagan in June to shift shops and vendors in Main Guard Gate to Yanaikulam ground has given hope for more positive developments in freeing up the heritage spots, said ASI officials.

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Printable version | Sep 4, 2022 7:53:05 am | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/encroachments-crowd-historic-spots-in-tiruchi/article65845636.ece