Contractor for fort restoration had warned watch tower would crash

Navi Mumbai: Officials of Savani Heritage Conservation Pvt Ltd, engaged to restore and beautify Belapur fort, claimed its watchtower portion collapsed due to delay in granting permission to restart work. The contractor had written to Cidco in April last year that work had to be carried out, as they had removed the roof of the 40-ft watchtower and sought permission to restart pre-monsoon work. The contractor obtained a NOC Archaeological Survey of India.

- George Mendonca

Aabhas Prakash, a business associate with Savani, said, “Our firm was allotted work in May 2019. But actual work started in December 2019. But some political activists objected to the work and brought a stay order from the archaeology department. Hence, Cidco told us to stop work.”