'DELISTING' MONUMENTS
1. Context
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to delist 18 “centrally protected monuments” because it has assessed that they do not have national importance. These 18 monuments are part of an earlier list of monuments that the ASI had said were “untraceable”
2. What exactly does the “delisting” of monuments mean?
- The ASI, operating under the Union Ministry of Culture, is tasked with safeguarding and preserving specific monuments and archaeological sites deemed nationally significant under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904 and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958 (AMASR Act).
- Delisting a monument implies its removal from ASI's conservation, protection, and maintenance purview. According to the AMASR Act, any construction-related activities are prohibited around protected sites. Once delisted, regular construction and urbanization activities can occur in the vicinity.
- The list of protected monuments can fluctuate due to new listings and delistings. Presently, ASI oversees 3,693 monuments, which will decrease to 3,675 after the ongoing delisting process concludes in the coming weeks.
- This marks the first significant delisting effort in decades. Section 35 of the AMASR Act empowers the Central Government to declare, through notification in the Official Gazette, the cessation of national importance for any ancient or historical monument or archaeological site.
- The gazette notification for the 18 monuments in question was issued on March 8. A two-month period is allotted for the public to submit objections or suggestions
3."Untraceable" Monument by ASI
- The AMASR Act serves to safeguard structures and sites aged over a century, encompassing various entities like temples, cemeteries, inscriptions, tombs, forts, palaces, step-wells, rock-cut caves, and historical artifacts such as cannons and mile pillars ("kos minars").
- These sites are spread throughout the country and, with time, some, particularly the smaller or less known ones, have been lost due to factors like urbanization, encroachments, dam and reservoir constructions, or neglect, resulting in their deterioration. In certain instances, there exists no collective memory of these monuments, complicating efforts to locate them physically.
- According to the AMASR Act, the ASI is tasked with periodic inspections of protected monuments to evaluate their condition and ensure their conservation and preservation.
- In instances of encroachment, the ASI has the authority to file a police complaint, issue show-cause notices for encroachment removal, and notify local authorities regarding the necessity for encroachment demolition.
- However, the enforcement of these measures hasn't been consistently effective. Established in 1861 to oversee archaeological excavations and conservation, the ASI faced operational challenges in subsequent decades.
- Most of the presently protected monuments came under ASI's purview from the 1920s to the 1950s. However, post-independence, governmental priorities shifted towards sectors like healthcare, education, and infrastructure, diverting limited resources away from heritage protection efforts.
- Additionally, ASI's focus leaned more towards discovering new monuments and sites rather than conserving and safeguarding existing one
4. How many historical monuments have been lost in this way?
- In December 2022, the Ministry of Culture reported to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture that 50 out of India's 3,693 centrally protected monuments were unaccounted for.
- Among these, 14 had succumbed to rapid urbanization, 12 had been submerged due to reservoirs or dams, and the remaining 24 were unable to be traced, as conveyed by the Ministry to the Committee.
- The Committee was informed that security personnel were stationed at only 248 of the 3,693 protected monuments. In its report addressing 'Issues concerning Untraceable Monuments and Monument Protection in India', the Committee expressed disappointment that the government, due to financial constraints, could only provide 2,578 security personnel at 248 locations, falling short of the total requirement of 7,000 personnel for monument protection
5. Way Forward
The Parliamentary panel said it was perturbed to find that the Barakhamba Cemetery in the very heart of Delhi was among the untraceable monuments. “If even monuments in the Capital cannot be maintained properly, it does not bode well for monuments in remote places in the country,”
Source: Indianexpress
