How India raises awareness of conservation amid warnings that many monuments are disappearing

According to SCMP, while globally famous attractions such as the Taj Mahal and Qutb Minar are well preserved, many Indian monuments are falling into disrepair or are missing in the context of development. urban development.

Last year, India's cultural sector reported that about 50 of India's 3.693 protected monuments were "missing" but heritage experts believe the number could be much higher.

Since the start of official monument inspections in 2013, the Indian Parliament has received annual reports from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Indian Ministry of Culture, in which highlights detailed information about the country's unrecorded historical sites.

New Delhi-based historian Ruchika Sharma said this is worrying and somewhat pandemic-like because of the frequent appearances in reports that some national monuments have disappeared.

Historian Sharma also said that the ASI often cites reasons such as urbanization for the loss of heritage.

According to ASI, among the historical places that have disappeared are Kos Minar - a medieval landmark in the state of Haryana; the guns of Emperor Sher Shah in the town of Tinsukia; the Buddhist site Telia Nala in the city of Varanasi; and the Barakhamba Monument, a 14th-century mausoleum building in Delhi.

Mr. Divay Gupta, a Delhi-based conservation architect, said that the structures may have disappeared due to factors such as insufficient funding and outdated conservation methods, poor heritage management and lack of awareness. connection between monuments and local communities.

Raise awareness of heritage conservation

Faced with this situation, ASI has mentioned its responsibility to raise more awareness in heritage conservation, especially for monuments or locations that are more than 100 years old and are considered of national importance. such as palaces, fortresses, cemeteries and ancient inscriptions.

In addition, Indian state governments also oversee the protection of certain historical sites that are not under the purview of ASI.

In many cities like New Delhi, laws protecting heritage buildings and preventing structural changes to buildings have been in force for a long time. However, the gap between protected and unprotected monuments is still very large.

For example, while there are over 700 recognized heritage sites in New Delhi, only 174 are protected by the ASI.

According to heritage experts, India's population growth in recent years has spurred demand for new buildings and infrastructure, prompting urban developers to consider the possibility encroaching on heritage sites or even demolishing them.

Many monuments were destroyed during road expansion and highway construction or had their structures demolished by people to use the rubble as construction material.

In the opinion of heritage experts, the government budget for the maintenance of monuments is too small compared to the number of sites they have to manage and protect. Most of the funding is allocated to monuments that attract large numbers of tourists while most other locations do not require entrance fees.

“Many relics need to be protected but there is no one to protect them. The problem is not the lack of capital but the way capital is allocated. ASI arranges a lot of guards at a major ticket location like Qutab Minar but the monuments that are less known to tourists do not have guards,” Mr. Sharma said.

According to Mr. Sharma, lack of coordination between local authorities and ASI is the main reason for the loss of the monument. For example, the land surrounding the Mughal-era Kos Minars in Haryana was sold by the state government to developers who were unaware of the site's need to be protected.

In other cases, local authorities are directly responsible for the destruction of monuments. Citing the 600-year-old Akhondji Mosque in Mehrauli, Mr. Sharma emphasized that on January 30, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) razed the mosque, describing it as an "illegal construction". The next day, the Delhi High Court ordered the DDA to explain its reasons for demolishing the mosque.

Indian historian and author Swapna Liddle said better planning is needed to protect monuments alongside urban development, combined with closer coordination between architects, historians and archaeologist.

Ms. Swapna Liddle said that after the incident related to Akhondji Mosque, we need to learn a valuable lesson from this story because the above location was previously well managed and cared for by the local community.

“Many historic mosques in the country are currently managed with the local community and this will help ASI promote conservation work. That is a good model of heritage conservation," Ms. Liddle added./.