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Large-scale demolitions were undertaken and Napier justified the destruction of two-fifths of the city by implying that the ‘dangerous overcrowding’ inside the old city would be automatically reduced with these demolitions.2 For the citizens of Lucknow this frenetic construction work where blasting was done with three days notice, was an extension of the battle they had just lost.
The nawabi Machhi Bhawan fort which had commanding view of the two bridges and the densely built native city was converted to the principal post of the city. Clearing out a 600 yard wide esplanade in the most heavily populated and built up area of the city around Machhi Bhawan, for building roads that diverge through the city map. Napier justified the destruction of two–fifths of the city by implying that dangerous overcrowding inside the city would be automatically reduced with these demolitions. He professed that the losses incurred by individuals would be compensated by the benefits achieved for the community. Even the elementary precaution of ensuring that the buildings to be razed were empty was often not taken during demolition. Nawabi buildings taken over for military purposes were to have individual esplanades so that they are not approachable under cover and command maximum possible range. These include the palaces extending along the line of river from the residency to the Kaiserbagh including Chattar Manzil and Farid Baksh.
| 2Haussmann who rebuilt the main streets of Paris so that they could not be easily barricaded, probably inspired a good deal of the esplanade and road construction that became the vogue in Indian cities after 1857. |
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