Archaeology dept allows business at Amber Fort; Five traders to restart commercial activities after signing MoU

Historic Amber Fort has once again started buzzing with business activities as the department of archaeology has allowed five traders to restart their commercial activities from the fort premises.

All commercial activities were earlier stopped by the Rajasthan high court which ordered scrapping of memorandum of understandings signed with Amber Development and Management Authority Society (ADMAS). The court had, however, allowed the director archaeology to allow limited commercial activities as per his discretion.

Five commercial units, including luxurious restaurant, were re-opened on Thursday after the owners signed a fresh MoU with the department. As per fresh move a book store, a coffee shop, a restaurant, gems and artefacts showroom, and Saras parlour have been allowed to resume their activities.

"We have received MoUs of five parties and they have been allowed to reopen their units," said superintendent of Amber Fort, Jafarullah Khan.

The department of archaeology had constituted a committee of experts to look into various aspects related to commercial activities at the fort premises. As per the recommendations of the committee the department has allowed all the existing establishments to resume their business ventures after signing fresh MoUs.

The high court has initially stopped commercial activities for the time being and later ordered scrapping of all MoUs signed between owners of commercial units and ADMAS. The court had also declared ADMAS as not being competent to decide about any activities related to the fort.

"What is the fun of changing guard from ADMAS to archaeology department? The fort was under department earlier also and situation is similar even now. Commercial activities will keep going on as usual so why all hullabaloo was raised?" asserted an official of ADMAS on condition of anonymity.

Copyright 2009 DNA Media, distributed by Contify.com

Source Citation
"Archaeology dept allows business at Amber Fort; Five traders to restart commercial activities after signing MoU." DNA [Daily News & Analysis] 19 Nov. 2009. Educator's Reference Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. .

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