Royals Of Baroda Online Petition against Const Near 106-Year-Old Palace

The Royal Family of Baroda and the Maharaja Fatesingh Trust have sought public support against a proposed multi-storied structure, to be built by the Railways near Pratap Vilas Palace in Vadodara. The Royals of Baroda and the Trust, managed by their family, have begun an online petition. The proposed construction is to be in the Raja Baug garden which overlooks the 106-year-old property, which was leased to the Railways. The Railways eventually bought the property for over Rs 34 lakh in 1961. It had taken eight years to complete construction of the Palace. The petition states that the new concrete construction right in front of the 106-year-old heritage Palace will certainly destroy the facade, landscape, scale, beauty and history of the landmark of Vadodara. Since 1952, the Palace has been used by the Railways as the Railway Staff College. Officers from across the country are trained in Vadodara. Samarjitsinh said that these officers have fond memories of the property and even they do not want the property to be affected. The appeal has been issued by Rajmata Shubhanginiraje Gaekwad, Maharaja Samarjitsinh Gaekwad and his wife Maharani Radhikaraje Gaekwad. Shubhanginiraje is also the chancellor of the M. S. University of Baroda.