Five years after collapse, masjid dome awaits restoration efforts

Once, if you had stepped off Hauz Qazi chowk in Old Delhi and kept walking on Lal Kuan Road, you would have seen the 200-year-old Masjid Mubarak Begum, standing atop a series of shops on the left, come into view in its full glory.

- Aheli Das

But, five years ago, its central dome collapsed under torrential rains. Now the symmetry of the deep terracotta red structure is marred by the empty space in the centre where once the largest of the three hemispherical domes stood. While officials have conducted some site visits, no efforts have been made towards its restoration.

Mohammad Zahid, the imam since 2004, told HT that a crack had developed in the central dome in 2020. At the time, he approached the Delhi Waqf Board, the custodian of the mosque, for its restoration. “Officials had visited the mosque multiple times but no restoration was ultimately done. We were even told that the structure of the mosque is now weak and if restoration is done, the entire structure should be repaired.”