THE HERITAGE OF DELHI

14 MONUMENTS GET A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

Delhi Govt To Extend Protection To 13 More Structures On 2010 Games Route

Richi Verma & Neha Lalchandani | TNN


After a prolonged delay, Delhi governments plan to bring many unprotected city heritage structures under state protection has taken off. The first list of 14 monuments has been notified while another 13 monuments are awaiting approval.
With the 2010 Games just a year away, the state government had recently joined hands with the Intach Delhi Chapter for protection and conservation of 92 unprotected monuments in the city. These structures have been identified from the list of 250 monuments prepared by the Delhi department of archaeology to be provided state protection under The Delhi Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 2004. According to a senior official, the 92 monuments shortlisted fall in the route of 2010 Games. The government already had six monuments under its protection.
Said a senior official of the state department : Six monuments are already protected and 14 have got preliminary notification. We have sent a list of another 13 monuments to the L-G and are awaiting approval. Many of the monuments have been encroached upon and we have given the occupants two months time to file any objection on account of ownership . According to our investigations , everything has been authenticated by the revenue department and these monuments will come under the government purview very soon. Once the two month period is over, a final notification will be issued.
The project is expected to cost up to Rs 90 lakh and once the first installment of funds is released, Intach will start engaging conservation architects and experts for it. Officials said that at least four of the notified monuments had been encroached upon and the first step was to remove encroachments and provide security guards at the sites. According to senior officials, this is the first time in 15 years when monuments will get state level protection on the lines of ASI-protected buildings.
According to senior officials from the state department of archaeology, they would be notifying all 92 monuments as per an MoU with Intach Delhi Chapter by the Commonwealth Games. These monuments have been selected on the basis of their size, significance and the Commonwealth Games route. With the first 14 almost notified, we are working on notifying more monuments from the list, said a senior official.
There are 1,400 historical buildings in Delhi. Conservationists claim it is essential to protect as many of them to salvage the structures from encroachment. Under the plans laid out by the state government , each of these buildings will soon have an official board declaring its protected status in front of them as is the case with centrally-protected building. Whether a structure is under central or state level protection, it would get the same level of legal cover , said an expert.