New Delhi: Beginning this winter, Delhiites could once again enjoy boat rides on the Purana Qila lake. The lake area has been adopted by Sabhyata Foundation, part of the Dalmia group, which has formalised plans and hired a company to start pedal boating as a recreational activity there.
“The foundation adopted the lake in March with plans to start recreation activities like boating. The target to begin this is Dec, but it depends on when we get permission from the Archaeological Survey of India,” said Ajay Verma, CEO of the foundation. “We are currently cleaning the lake and preparing it in the hope that we will be given permission to start boating services.”
Sabhyata has sent the proposal for approval to ASI. Under the plan, 10 boats — two- and four-seaters — will initially be introduced after which another 10 are likely to be added to the fleet. The small lake, which used to attract over 3,000 visitors on average on the weekends, has also featured in films like Tanu Weds Manu Returns in which actors Kangana Ranaut and R Madhavan were shown enjoying a boat ride.
Last year, the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) offered to start recreational boating at Purana Qila during the preparations for the G20 Summit in Sept last year. Boating has been suspended at the lake since 2016 after ASI did not renew the licence of Delhi Tourism. After the boating facility stopped, the lake started shrinking and dried up until Sabhyata took over the management of the lake.
The boating access in a central Delhi area, near the National Zoological Park, will be welcomed by citizens, for whom leisure boating had become possible only in distant lakes in the city once the famed waterways at India Gate closed to boating in 2010. The Boat Club was, till then, a popular paddling rendezvous and the lawns around teemed with people throughout the week.
The Purana Qila lake is believed to be located in the vicinity of the ancient city of Indraprastha. It extends from Talaqui Darwaza to Bada Darwaza. Earlier, it sourced water from the Yamuna. Later, the authorities started pumping groundwater into it to keep it full. In 2018, following the order of the National Green Tribunal on the restoration of all waterbodies across Delhi, ASI carried out some restoration work in the fort’s moat area.
Purana Qila, also known as Old Fort, on Mathura Road was once the residence of Mughal ruler Humayun. The fort is popularly known as Pandavon ka Qila for its association with Indraprastha and the Pandava princes of the Mahabharata. The recent historical excavations there under the direction of Dr Vasant Kumar Swarnkar in 2013-2014, 2017-2018 and 2022-2023 have yielded a plethora of relics, pottery, structures and other antiquities.
