Repairs underway on Fatehpuri Masjid’s leaning minaret

Officials said work is being carried out with financial help from private individuals.A scaffolding has been placed around the minaret and work aimed at providing structural support will get underway soon.

The Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) has started repair work on Chandni Chowk’s Fatehpuri Masjid, whose minaret is leaning on one side and needs structural support. The repairs are likely to take six months, officials aware of the matter said.

Repairs underway on Fatehpuri Masjid’s leaning minaret

Board officials said work is being carried out with financial help from private individuals.A scaffolding has been placed around the minaret and work aimed at providing structural support will get underway soon.

Built in the 1650s by Fatehpuri Begum, one of the wives of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the red sandstone mosque has not seen any major conservation efforts in the past 50 years. In August, a huge red sandstone slab fell from the ceiling, and slabs have fallen from the minaret even earlier too.

Mufti Mukarram Ahmed, the Shahi Imam of the Masjid, said work started two weeks ago. The minaret had started leaning in one direction several years ago, leading to safety concerns, he said. “While repair and upkeep work at the mosque has been underway for many months, work on the minaret started 10-15 days ago. The minaret needs support since it has started leaning in one direction. We are hopeful that once spruced up, the mosque will be in a much better condition,” said Ahmed.

Mehfooz Mohammad, section officer, DWB, said board chairman MLA Amanatullah Khan, along with conservation experts, had assessed the condition of the mosque in August. Mohammad said that after two-three weeks of work, a scaffolding had been prepared around the leaning minaret and repairs were underway. “Initially, we were planning to wrap up work in six months. However, a lot of work needs to be done and it might take longer than we had earlier estimated. We have roped in experts from Old Delhi who specialise in work on mosques,” said Mohammad.

An official supervising the work, who did not wish to be named, said work on the minaret will take at least six months to finish due to the scale of repairs that need to be undertaken. “The structure is quite old. Over the years, it has weakened and sustained damage. Huge portions of slabs from the minaret had started falling down due to which there were safety fears,” said the official.

He said the work being undertaken pertains to repairing the existing structure and plugging structural gaps. “This is a historical structure dating back several centuries so no new additions can be made. The goal is to ensure that the minaret gains strength and can sustain the weight of the slabs,” said the official.

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