50 centrally protected monuments ‘missing’

Subject :Art and Culture

Context:

As many as 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments are missing, according to a submission made in Parliament by the Ministry of Culture.

More on the news:

It was in 2013 that the Comptroller and Auditor General had declared 92 monuments as “missing” after a first-of-its-kind physical verification exercise undertaken after Independence.
Missing monuments: 11 from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Delhi and Haryana.
The list also included monuments in Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Why are they missing?

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture published a report titled ‘Issues relating to Untraceable Monuments and Protection of Monuments in India’.
As per the government, these monuments are untraceable over the years due to:
- Rapid urbanisation
- submerged by reservoirs and dams
- difficulties in tracing in remote locations and dense forests
- non-availability of their proper location.
As per the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI),14 of these monuments have been lost to rapid urbanisation, 12 are submerged by reservoirs or dams, and the locations of the remaining 24 remain untraceable.

About Centrally protected monuments:

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958 is one of the landmark laws for the –
- Preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance (over 100 years old).
- Regulation of archaeological excavations and
- Protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.
- The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) functions under the provisions of this act.
India has a total of 3,695 Centrally Protected Monuments or Sites in the country, under the protection of the ASI.
The monuments are regularly inspected by the ASI officials to assess their present condition and the necessary conservation and preservation works are taken up as per the requirement.