The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has put out a list of 18 centrally protected monuments which it wants to delist as, according to the central agency, they no longer hold national importance; The Indian Express has reported.
The list has been drawn up from a list of 24 “untraceable” monuments, which the Union Ministry of Culture submitted to a parliamentary committee last year.
As per the report, the monuments facing delisting include Kos Minar No.13 at Mujessar village in Haryana; Bara Khamba Cemetery in Delhi; Gunner Burkill’s Tomb at Rangoon in Jhansi; Cemetery at Gaughat in Lucknow; and Telia Nala Buddhist ruins, which form part of a deserted village in Varanasi.
Currently, the ASI has 3,693 monuments under its purview. According to an official gazette notification dated March 8, published last week, the ASI has invoked Section 35 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (AMASR Act) to delist the 18 monuments, stating that these “have ceased to be of national importance”.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 35 of AMASR Act, the Central Government hereby gives notice of its intention to declare that the monuments specified in the Schedule to this notification have ceased to be of national importance for the purposes of said Act,” the notification said, inviting “objections or suggestions” from the public within two months.
Earlier on December 8, 2023, the Ministry of Culture had told Parliament that 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments have gone missing. This submission was made as part of a report titled ‘Issues relating to Untraceable Monuments and Protection of Monuments in India’ submitted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture.
