*No step initiated to insure invaluable heritage
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 1: Notwithstanding the tall claims of the PDP-BJP Coalition Government about making culturally-rich State a mosaic of varied architectural landmarks, conservation of historic monuments in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir has remained confined to the papers only mainly because of negligible funding for this vital aspect. Moreover, no step has so far been initiated to insure invaluable heritage despite announcement in this regard in the Budget by none else than the Finance Minister.
In Jammu and Kashmir, which is known for having huge invaluable heritage, the restoration and conservation of monuments is handled by the Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums. The department has the mandate to conduct regular survey, identification and excavation of archeological sites in order to include these sites/monuments in the list of State Protected Monuments.
The monuments or sites are declared State Protected Monuments as per the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Ancient Monuments Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2010. The objective behind declaration of any monument as State Protected Monument is to ensure its proper conservation so as to save the same for posterity.
As per the data of Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums there are a total of 51 State Protected Monuments in the form of rock sculptures, rock carving, ancient sites, forts, tombs and temples. For the proper conservation that too in a time bound manner the department requires huge financial support from the State Government to achieve the objective behind bringing monuments under the purview of J&K Ancient Monuments Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2010.
“However, the ground situation is very depressing as no serious attention is being paid towards earmarking required funds for preservation of the monuments”, official sources told EXCELSIOR while holding non-serious approach of the successive Culture Ministers including the present one responsible for this.
Notwithstanding the tall claims including of the present PDP-BJP Coalition Government about making culturally-rich State a mosaic of varied architectural landmarks by ensuring conservation of all the monuments in the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir, only negligible funds are placed at the disposal of concerned authorities.
This can be gauged from the fact that till last year the Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums was getting less than Rs one crore for this purpose and during the current financial year the amount has been increased to only Rs one crore, which again is grossly inadequate, sources said while disclosing that an amount of Rs 10 crore is required every year in order to ensure conservation of 51 State Protected Monuments.
“In the absence of required financial assistance, the department has been left with no other option but to carry out conservation of only few State Protected Monuments”, sources said while disclosing that a number of monuments, which were declared as State Protected Monuments several years back have not seen any conservation activity till date.
Quoting an example, they said that Chamba Statute at Sanku and Rock Sculpture of Matria Budha at Apati both in Kargil district were brought under the ambit of Ancient Monument Preservation Act vide SRO-261 dated March 16, 2012 and SRO-44 dated February 6, 2013 but till date the department has not incurred any amount for their restoration.
“Despite the lapse of several years the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for the conservation of these sites have yet not been prepared although this is the foremost step towards execution of restoration and maintenance”, sources regretted, adding “there are numerous such examples which indicate non-serious approach towards conservation of State Protected Monuments”.
“What is the purpose of declaring State Protected Monuments when sufficient funds are not to be placed at the disposal of concerned authorities for their preservation and maintenance”, sources asked, adding “all this indicates that concern for monuments is only confined to the official statements”.
While presenting Budget for 2017-18 financial year, the Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu had announced that to protect invaluable heritage all the artifacts, rare manuscripts, paintings and other priceless items will be insured after proper documentation and valuation. He had even announced that an amount of Rs 5 crore has been earmarked for this purpose.
However, till date no step has been initiated in this regard, sources further regretted.
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