Centre unhappy with state over encroachments on heritage sites

Encroachments have crept upon even the Centrally-protected monuments and heritage structures in Punjab.

Encroachments have crept upon even the Centrally-protected monuments and heritage structures in Punjab. Instances of illegal constructions and occupation in and around these protected structures, as many as 31 in Punjab, have become a cause of concern with the Union Ministry of Culture, which ensures protection of all such structures across the country.

The Ministry has shot off a letter to Punjab Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh, stating “the enforcement of laws to protect such heritage structures in the state leaves much to be desired”. The communication by Union Secretary Abhijit Sen Gupta says that many of the state-funded development works in Punjab are carried out within the prohibited and regulated areas of the Centrally-protected monuments. This, ironically, is going on without even the consent of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), something which is a legal requirement before the start of work, the letter states.

In wake of the situation, the state government on December 11 issued instructions to all heads of department, deputy commissioners and Registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to ensure that no such activity takes place in and around these structures. The orders also instruct officials to free these premises from any sort of illegal constructions.

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Interestingly, the rules suggest that the protected land has to be mutated in the name of the ASI for effective management. This, however, is not true in the case of Punjab. Sen Gupta’s letter says that in many Centrally-protected monuments, the protected land has not been even mutated in the favour of the ASI.

He said, “This poses legal problems in the management and environment development of these monuments.” The ASI Director has been asked to give necessary instructions to all the superintending archaeologists to take up the work of mutation on priority.

Majority of Centrally-protected monuments in Punjab fall in Jalandhar — as many as nine. There are seven such monuments in Ludhiana, four in Amritsar and three in Gurdaspur.

The communiqué has also urged the state not to include these monuments in religious endowment boards, which are under the state government control, without the consent of the ASI, as this could lead to conflicting situations.