Letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on measures to protect heritage, both archaeological and geological | Contre-courants

As the Prime Minister underlined India's commitment to conservation of ancient heritage, JCBs flattened an archaeological mound outside Pithori Darwaja containing valuable archaeological evidence in his hometown Vadnagar in Gujarat

Letter to Prime Minister Modiji on measures to protect heritage, both archaeological and geological

HAS

Shri Narendra Modi

Prime Minister

Dear Shri Narendra Modiji,During the recent meeting of the

At the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC), you rightly stressed the need to respect and conserve heritage as “Heritage is not just history, but a shared consciousness of humanity” and even announced a contribution of one million dollars to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

It is ironic that around the same time, in Vadnagar, your own hometown with a 2,300-year-old archaeological site, you are sadly witnessing the merciless flattening by JCBs of an archaeological mound outside Pithori Darwaja, located 1 km from the main excavation site near Sharmishtha Lake (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/jcbs-flatten-2000-year-old-archaeological-site-in-vadnagar/articleshow/111873497.cms)

Such destruction of potential archaeological evidence would not have taken place if the Gujarat Government had taken the trouble to invoke its authority under the Gujarat Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1965 to notify all such sites of historical importance as ‘protected sites’ and had implemented the statutory provisions in time and if your own Government at the Centre had taken adequate steps to strengthen and enable the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a rapid survey of all such important sites and their surroundings, using cost-effective, non-invasive and ground-penetrating techniques such as application of satellite image analysis, geophysical investigation, etc. to explore the archaeological evidence hidden beneath the ground.

In fact, India has excellent indigenous capabilities in applying these advanced techniques as shown by the studies conducted by Indian experts at Nalanda (http://eprints.nias.res.in/1135/) and Bodh Gaya (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/satellite-images-reveal-archaeological-wealth-beneath-bodh-gayas-sacred-site/articlesshow/111712577.cms), where such studies have unearthed new, previously unknown archaeological evidence that would add to our knowledge of ancient history. The Haryana government is collaborating with the ASI to use a similar non-invasive, ground-penetrating technique to explore the archaeological site of Agroha (^ Economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/haryana-govt-initiates-ground-penetrating-radar-survey-at-agroha-archaeological-site/articlesshow/108430198.cms?from=mdr)
Established in 1861, the ASI is one of the oldest institutions in the country, with a reservoir of archaeological knowledge and professional capabilities comparable to its counterparts in the rest of the world.

Had your Government enabled ASI to collaborate with other Indian public sector institutions like ISRO/National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru and others to work jointly on application of advanced investigative techniques, by allocating adequate funds to ASI, strengthening it institutionally and encouraging it to make every effort to explore existing and new sites, ASI would have discovered many more sites of invaluable archaeological evidence which could add to our knowledge of history and cultural traditions.

Unfortunately, the Finance Minister’s Budget speech made no mention of ‘heritage’ and the budgetary allocations for ASI do not reflect your government’s commitment to respect/conserve heritage by strengthening ASI. Compared to the huge subsidies provided in the Budget for private profit-making industry, the requirements of ASI are small. Had your government been willing, it could have easily increased the budget of ASI to enable it take up the challenge of using advanced techniques to protect existing sites and discover new ones. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture on the ‘Working of Archaeological Survey of India’ presented a report on 21st September 2023 in the Rajya Sabha referring to 50 “lost archaeological sites“Of the 3,679 monuments and sites notified by the government as being of national importance under the provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, several important recommendations have been made to strengthen the ASI (https://asi.nic.in/pages/Monuments#:~:text=At%20present%2C%20Archaeological%20Survey%20of,%2D%20Circles%20and%20Mini%2Dcircle). If immediate measures are not taken to enable the establishment of the ASI, many other notified sites could disappear in the coming years, due to urbanisation and real estate pressure.
A heritage once lost cannot be restored.

ASI and Amaravati Buddhist Archaeological Site:

While your government has allocated Rs 15,000 crore to the Asmara provincial government to develop its capital city, Amaravati, barely 25 km away, the ancient Buddhist archaeological site of Amaravati, on which the new capital is modelled, is prone to damage from real estate activity. The ASI, which controls the Amaravati site, with its meager resources, finds it difficult to protect the existing site of Amaravati and its environs which contain potential archaeological remains. It is from Amaravati and other Buddhist centres along the eastern coast of India that the ancient Buddhist traditions spread far and wide, to South-East Asia and even to China. Protection of these sites would strengthen India's traditional links with the East.

Ancient Buddhist archaeological site of Thotlakonda near Visakhapatnam:

The credit for the discovery of Thotlakonda and a few other Buddhist sites nearby truly goes to the Indian Navy, whose reconnaissance teams detected them on the hilltops and brought them to the attention of state archaeological officials.

As with several similar sites, the Thotlakonda site too is under serious threat, perhaps encouraged by successive governments, with the previous state government, bowing to pressure from real estate developers, denotifying about 96% of the 3,148 acres originally notified as a protected site in 1978, despite the fact that in 2000-03 a researcher discovered 134 new archaeological sites, containing 328 individual archaeological features in the area that is now denotified.

At the request of the AP High Court, appealed to by local heritage activists, the ASI was directed to explore the denotified portion of this site, but being strapped for funds, it is not in a position to adopt satellite imagery surveys and other advanced techniques as cited above to do full justice to the court's requirement.
It is to protect priceless heritage sites like Vadnagar in Gujarat, Bodh Gaya and Nalanda in Bihar, Amaravati, Thotlakonda and a host of other important sites in AP and other states that the laws relating to conservation of archaeological sites need to be implemented strictly and the hands of the ASI strengthened.

Geoheritage sites:

There are 32 geo-heritage sites notified by the GSI (https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=137573). All these sites are of considerable geological importance and some even have archaeological value. Although the Central and State governments are required to conserve heritage under Article 49 of the Constitution, no law has yet been enacted to enable the authorities to provide them with adequate statutory protection.

To cite an example of a geographical heritage site, we have near Visakhapatnam, a site notified by the GSI, “Erra Matti Dibbalu (EMD) – the dissected and stabilized coastal red sediment mounds“As in the case of archaeological sites, these sites are now being unjustifiably vandalised by real estate developers with the complicity of some local officials. These undesirable real estate activities have strategic implications for the Indian Navy, whose installations are located in the vicinity of the above-mentioned geo-heritage site.

If the central government had enacted a law to protect these sites, it could have easily protected them.

In fact, though such a law was proposed by the civil society of Visakhapatnam a decade ago, the Ministry of Mines belatedly introduced a Geological Sites and Remains (Preservation and Maintenance) Bill, 2022, but it is yet to be introduced in Parliament for enactment into law. To protect the geological heritage, enactment of such a law is a necessity.
In this context, I have the following specific suggestions:

1. Strengthen ASI by increasing its budgetary allocation to enable it to collaborate with other Indian public sector technology institutions to adopt non-invasive and cost-effective archaeological exploration techniques
2. Direct the ASI to undertake a nationwide rapid survey exercise using such techniques to explore potential micro-sites around existing archaeological sites and explore newly discovered sites, so as to be able to broaden the archaeological heritage base of India
3. Ensure strict implementation of central and state legislations on the protection of archaeological sites
4. To introduce the Geological Heritage Sites and Geological Remains (Preservation and Maintenance) Bill in Parliament at the earliest and in the meantime advise the concerned agencies of the Centre and the States to protect the geological heritage sites under the environment and other applicable laws

According to your words at the meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, ““We must harness this potential of heritage for the betterment of the world. We must connect hearts through our heritage” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUz__8Edp-E). I am sure that you will take into consideration the above suggestions and take the necessary measures to protect the heritage, both archaeological and geological.
If you take the initiative in this direction, the states will follow.

Greetings,

Sincerely,

EAS Sarma

Former Secretary to the Government of India

visakhapatnam