Jaipur: Town planners have raised an alarm after fire at Sethi Complex in Purohit Ji Ka Katla exposed alleged building violations in the congested Walled City market. The blaze has revived questions over unchecked commercial expansion, weak enforcement and the risk to Jaipur’s UNESCO World Heritage status.A former member of the erstwhile Jaipur Municipal Corporation Heritage cell said several markets in the Walled City are ignoring heritage regulations and a 2014 Rajasthan High Court order that permits commercial use only on the ground floor up to a depth of 20 feet.
Shops were closed on the ground floor at City Complex in Tripolia Bazaar area in Jaipur, Rajasthan on 18 September 2026
“After Jaipur got the UNESCO World Heritage status and heritage cell was formed, the matter came to light in 2021 when a proposal to redevelop this Sethi Complex into a G+3 shopping facility was planned. The heritage cell of the erstwhile JMC Heritage rejected the proposal. However, despite several intimations to the building and enforcement departments of the civic body, no one enforced the closures of these illegal stores,” said a town planner, who was associated with the heritage cell.Purohit Ji Ka Katla is nearly as old as Jaipur itself. After establishing the Walled City, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II invited Purohit Ghasiram Ji from Alkhaji ki Khoh, now known as Raghunathgarh in Sikar. The ruler issued a royal decree and settled him in Jaipur. Ghasiram Purohit built the market that came to be known as Purohit Ji Ka Katla.
Owner of a godown sit outside his burnt godown on the second floor of City Complex in Tripolia Bazaar area in Jaipur, Rajasthan on 18 September 2026
Sethi Complex came up inside the market in the early 1980s. The Katla developed into a major wholesale garment hub, drawing footfall into narrow lanes and ageing structures.Conservationists fear post-fire repairs may further damage the area’s heritage character. Planners said past restoration of fire-hit heritage buildings in the Walled City rarely showed sensitivity to conservation principles.“The problem is we do have a set of heritage norms, but no act to enforce these norms. If it continues, the Walled City will lose its outstanding universal value,” said Jaipur-based conservation architect Chandni Choudhary, who was also a member of the heritage cell.
