Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to delist 18 “centrally protected monuments”.
ASI has assessed that they are not of national importance.
These 18 monuments are part of a previous list of monuments that the ASI had said were “untraceable”.
The monuments now facing delisting include a medieval highway milestone recorded as Kos Minar No.13 at Mujessar village in Haryana, and Barakhamba Cemetery in Delhi.
It also includes Gunner Burkill’s tomb in the Jhansi district, a cemetery at Gaughat in Lucknow, and the Telia Nala Buddhist ruins in Varanasi.
The exact location of these monuments or their current physical condition is not known.
Currently, there are 3,693 monuments under the purview of the ASI, which will reduce to 3,675 when the ongoing delisting process is completed in the next few weeks.
Under the Union Ministry of Culture, ASI is responsible for the protection and maintenance of certain monuments and archaeological sites.
These monuments and archaeological sites which have been declared to be of national importance under the relevant provisions of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904, and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (AMASR Act).
On 8 March, a gazette notification was issued for the 18 monuments concerned. The public has two months to send “objections or suggestions”.
In December 2022, the Culture Ministry told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture that 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments were missing.
The ministry told the committee that 14 of these monuments were lost due to rapid urbanization, 12 were submerged in reservoirs/dams and the remaining 24 could not be located.
