Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss. (UPSC IAS Mains 2018 General Studies Paper – 1)
India having vast diversity and a long-lasting cultural heritage has multiple monuments depicting our history being living remnants of our past. However, the recent submission of the Ministry of Culture to the parliamentary committee highlighted that 50 centrally protected monuments are missing thus calling for the safeguarding of our architectural heritage.
Reasons for safeguarding:
- Architecture helps demonstrate and understand history. For example ruins of Hazara Rama and Vithal Swami temple depict the Vijayanagara empire’s magnificence.
- Architectural heritage is the pride of our country, boosting our soft power. For example, the Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world.
- It ensures attachment and a feeling of oneness of people with our culture. Also helps recognise unity in diversity due to the multiplicity of such structures.
- It provides the potential for the tourism industry to provide employment to people and boost revenues for the state as well.
- Flourishing tourism around monuments helps develop infrastructure in such areas as road, rail and air connectivity to reach such monuments.
Multiple threats to our monuments:
- Threats to monuments by rising pollution such as the yellowing of the Taj Mahal by air pollution due to nearby refineries were highlighted by the courts resulting in the formation of the Taj Trapezium Zone.
- Rapid urbanisation and thus illegal construction.
- Submergence by reservoirs and dams.
- Difficulties in tracing in remote locations.
- Dense forests and the non-availability of their proper locations etc,
- Unregulated tourist activities damage these constructions creating waste management issues etc.
- Security issues such as in museums due to shortage of manpower for guarding them, lack of proper surveillance technologies etc.
- Poor maintenance for example paintings in Ajanta which are getting worse due to humidity, ASI’s capacity and expertise are also questioned in this regard. Their restoration capacity is also criticised in this regard.
To preserve our architecture, the government is taking multiple steps -
- Amendment of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act-1958 in 2010 to add provisions of a prohibition area 100 metres around such monuments with no construction being allowed in such areas.
- Recent attempts to bring flexibility and rationalise prohibition and regulated areas. The ASI as an institution will also be provided further teeth to remove encroachments of regulated zones ( 300 metres around the monument ).
- Private sector cooperation in restoration through schemes like Adopt a heritage scheme for better expertise in protecting monuments.
Further efforts are required such as involving the larger public in restoring historical sites in form of festivals, utilising technology while increasing the capacity of ASI to do so, spreading cultural awareness around the preservation of heritage by curriculum modification in schools and institutes etc. Preserving our monuments is a fundamental duty of every citizen as per Article 51(f) of the Constitution.
We should also link such preservation efforts with sustainable development to ensure future generations can enjoy culture along with access to planetary resources.
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