Protecting protected monuments
02 Oct 2023 7 mins Download PDF
Protecting protected monuments
Why in the News?
A parliamentary committee headed by Rajya Sabha MP V Vijaisai Reddy has recommended that the list of centrally protected monuments (CPM) should be “rationalised” as 3,691 of CPM in India are “minor” monuments.
- The CPMs have to be categorised on the basis of their national significance, unique architectural and heritage value.
- It has also raised questions about the functioning of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Recommendations of the Committee:
- The recommendations are part of the ‘359th Report on the Functioning of Archaeological Survey of India’ by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture.
- The committee has specified that the list of CPM includes a large number of minor monuments with no national significance.
- This current list includes a large number of minor monuments with no national significance.
- Examples include:
- The graves of public works department engineer John Albert Cope (died in 1880) and Henry Gassen (died 1877) located in Kumta, Karnataka, is a protected monument under the supervision of the ASI. The structure had no architectural value, and the individuals were of no historical significance.
- The approach is seen to be furtherance of the government’s decolonisation agenda.
- The committee recommends that the list of monuments with ASI should be rationalised and categorised on the basis of their national significance, unique architectural value and specific heritage content.
- Deletion of some of the kosminars (milestones built by Mughals) may also be considered, because they come in the way of road-widening exercises.
Easing restrictions around monuments:
- The existing provision of a 100-metre prohibited area and 300-metre regulated area around all ASI-protected monuments leads to public inconvenience.
- It prohibits and regulates all activities like mining and construction around 100 metres and 300 metres of all the protected monuments.
- It causes problems for the local community living around it, as it becomes difficult for the village to repair their residential houses.
- This stringent provision applies equally to both significant and insignificant monuments.
- For instance, the rules above apply identically to the Ajanta and Ellora monuments as much as to kosminars, unknown cemeteries and tombs.
Fixing ASI’s core mandate:
- The committee has recommended ASI to develop preservation plans for all its work, especially before excavations. This includes,
- establishing clear strategies for documenting findings and conserving artefacts
- Restoring structures to ensure minimal impact on the site’s integrity.
- It advocated the use of advanced technologies such as LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, and 3D scanning for enhanced accuracy and efficiency of excavations.
- For instance, some of these techniques were recently used inside the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi by the ASI for its court-mandated non-invasive survey.
- To make the ASI an effective agency, it advised bifurcation of the organisation:
- ASI can look after the core mandate – exploration, excavation and conservation aspects
- India Heritage Development Corporation (IHDC) can deal with ASI’s revenue, such as ticket collection, conducting auctions, issuing licences, running cafeterias, selling mementoes and running sound and light systems.
- Highest priority to the physical security and survey of all CPMs across the country has to be ensured by ASI.
- CAG had declared 92 CPMs as “missing” and of which only have been located.
- The remaining 50 monuments are either affected by rapid urbanisation, submerged under reservoirs/dams or are untraceable.
- Regular physical surveys of all CPMs should be carried out from time to time.
- The ASI should maintain digital log books that include textual and photographic/ video records of the monument’s physical state and location coordinates, to check encroachment, if any, of these CPMs at an early stage.
- Shortages of human resources and funds are limiting the efficient functioning of ASI.
- ASI must undertake restoration work keeping the original structure, its relevance and aesthetics in mind.
- ASI should integrate sustainable practices in conservation and restoration projects, such as using eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient techniques, and taking into consideration the long-term environmental impact of interventions.
Recent major conservation works undertaken by ASI:
- Hoysala Temples in Karnataka (which has just been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
- Santiniketan in West Bengal (another recent WH site).
- Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan
- Ta Prohm and Preah Vihear temples in Cambodia
- My Son Group of Temples in Vietnam
- Friday Mosque in Maldives
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