The top picture was taken in May 2011: Roaming around the Hussainabad Clock Tower in Lucknow, notRumi Darwaza I noticed this iron railing with a crescent. I couldn't believe that it had survived
when all the rest of the fencing had long gone; replaced by a poorly finished angle-iron fencing. I again visited the place on July 14, 2013 and was disturbed to find labourers digging around and I thought this would be the end of that old fence. Anyhow on closer examination I discovered that this was actually the original gateway to the clock tower. The pictures here are of two iron pillars with the two gates intact. One is hidden by the earth that has been piled against it. Most of the gate had been hidden by bushes most of the time. I went on to an Archaeological Survey of India facebook page thinking I'd draw the attention of the authorities to it. The reply I got from there disappointed me: The page is the ASI's 'fan' page!! Now how long will this survive is anybody's guess! Several years ago the changed the original pre-Independence fencing around the Sir Harcourt Butler Park in Kaiserbagh, Lucknow. What the use today as fencing needs repairs every couple of years. Iron is twisted a wrenched off by people who sell it to scrap dealers.
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| November 2014 the original gateway to the Hussainabad clock tower was smashed as I'd feared three years earlier. |
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| This is how the Archaeological Survey of India preserves heritage sites and artifacts! |
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| End of November 2014 |
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| Old pic taken some months ago (2014) |
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