Healthcare in the lap of Lodi-era history

Mehrauli has seen about a thousand years or more of continuous habitation and hence has a curious mix of the old with the new. Nivedita Khandekar reports.

Mehrauli has seen about a thousand years or more of continuous habitation and hence has a curious mix of the old with the new.

But the primary health centre (PHC), a few metres from the Mehrauli bus stand, is where the old is used for a new purpose — a Lodi-era tomb that has now been converted into a healthcare facility.

At first look, most people might not even know that the health centre is right in the lap of a historical tomb.

The only give away for this old structure are its dome and large pillars of the verandah. The tomb is whitewashed from inside, exteriors are a pale yellow and several modern fixtures, such as ceramic tiles, have altered the original look of the place. The additions also include an asbestos-roofed shade.

Islamuddin Khan, working with the public healthcare centre since 1973, said: “I have seen OPD registers dating back to 1935, which means, this place was functional as a health centre since the 1930s.”

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He also recalls that originally there was just one huge chamber with a verandah running around all sides. “Rooms were built, closing in portions of the verandah,” Khan, who lives nearby, said.

While nobody has any idea why it is there, the word Zail — a revenue unit for an area in old times — misleads several locals into believing that the building originally was a jail.