New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar on Saturday visited the nearly 160-year-old Town Hall in old Delhi, and said the corporation will make "every possible effort" to preserve its heritage.

The iconic Town Hall, built in the 1860s as the Delhi Institute, was the former seat of the city's civic body, which evolved from the Delhi Municipality in the 19th century to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) that came into being in 1958.

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The commissioner spent nearly two hours at the historic landmark, where he along with several civic officials and history enthusiasts attended a heritage walk on its campus, and then attended a talk on Mughal prince Dara Shukoh.

Executive engineer in the MCD and part of the civic body's Heritage Cell, Sanjeev Kumar Singh, threw light on the life of Dara Shukoh. In his illustrated PPT presentation, he also recounted his journey of "locating the grave of Dara Shukoh" a few years ago.

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Singh, through nearly four years of "hard research that begin in 2016", has claimed that Dara Shukoh's grave is located at the Humayun's Tomb building beside the tombs of Emperor Akbar's sons Daniyal and Murad, in Delhi. Many noted historians have backed his claim.

Singh said during his research, he studied a large number of graves located in Delhi and Agra, and also many of those located in Lahore via internet, besides consulting several scholarly books.

It was the Persian wordings in 'Alamgirnama', the court history of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, which acted as a guide and "helped me locate it", the engineer said, adding that he has faced scepticism from many scholars but also endorsements from noted ones, which made him believe in his findings.

Asked if the MCD has any plan to restore the Town Hall, which has been crying for attention for many years, he said the visit of the municipal commissioner is definitely a "positive step in that direction".

The MCD, and earlier the erstwhile North Delhi Municipal Corporation, had been proposing several plans for its preservation and adaptive reuse, but none of the proposals so far have taken off the ground.

The 19th century building is in immediate need of repair and restoration after years of disuse and damage.

During the heritage walk, Kumar "reviewed the historical background of various parts of the Town Hall".

He also inspected the current condition of the building and felt the need for its immediate repair, the MCD said in a statement.

The commissioner "reiterated his commitment to preserve the heritage of Town Hall", it said.

The Town Hall is an "integral and important part of Delhi's history" and "preserving its rich heritage is a sign of a conscious society", the statement quoted him as saying.

He also said the MCD will "make every possible effort to preserve its heritage".

The walk and the talk were hosted by the Heritage Cell of the MCD.

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