last sunday shridatta raut an accountant who dabbles in fort conservation spent his morning measuring the stone walls of a creeperridden fort in palghar district when he got home he made changes to a map hed sketched earlier and then posted the modified file on various websites so visitors and other amateur conservationists would benefit from his research over the last six years raut who has selfpublished over 20 books on maharashtras forts has also been excavating the lower levels of this fort with the help of a few volunteers as evidence of their backbreaking labour he points to a lineabout 8 feet high dividing the darker upper wall from the lower half which until recently was buried under mud and debris an accounts student has had to become a writer architect and archaeologist says raut referring to the many hats he wears while pursuing his hobby rauts obsession with forts he even got married on one dates back to 2003 when as an aspiring poet he sought solitude and inspiration in these derelict structures his dismay at their condition they were strewn with garbage and crumbling due to neglect led him to form kille vasai mohim a group committed to the preservation and documentation of these forts in order to motivate his troops who often spend new years eve cleaning water tanks digging up artefacts and removing weeds from the fort walls raut decided to research each forts history so he could describe historical events while they toiled he hoped this would instill in them a sense of pride in their work he began his research by visiting local libraries rummaging through national archives and perusing old maps soon his research led him to shivaji maharajs historical records written in the ancient modi script raut enrolled himself in a class to learn the script and now teaches it to other enthusiasts he also gives visitors free tours of various forts 76000 have benefited so far and makes regular rti applications to the archeological survey of india to find out what steps are being taken to conserve these structures according to rauts research only 550 of maharashtras 1000 forts are left even those still in existence need to be resuscitated kisi ka haath gaya hai kisi ka pair gaya hai says raut who plans to visit every remaining fort and document each one for posterity once hes done he plans to make a nineday trek to raigad fort which was shivajis capital i decided to set myself a goal which would motivate me and keep me going raut says