Amendments to Ancient Monuments Act

Why in news?

Central government is planning to introduce amendments to "Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958".

What are prohibited zones?

• Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules of 1959 for the first time noted a prohibited and a regulated zone around protected sites and monuments.
• In 2010, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act was passed.
• This legislation brought the prohibited and regulated zones around monuments within the ambit of the Act itself.
• A designated prohibited area means that at least within a 100-m radius of the monument, no new construction is allowed.
• The National Monuments Authority was set up.

What are the existing problems?

• The records with the government show that there are around 5,00,000 unprotected and endangered monuments.
• But only 3,650 monuments are nationally protected in a country.
• There are encroachments around monuments by government agencies and individuals.
• e.g The 2013 CAG report noted that of the 1,655 monuments, 546 of them were encroached.
• It is mainly due to the severe lack of basic manpower in the form of monument attendants.
• More than two-thirds of India’s monuments that the Central government is supposed to protect were poorly guarded.
• There are also numerous instances where politicians have protected those who have illegally occupied the prohibited zone around monuments.
• Heritage bye-laws for nationally protected monuments are yet to be prepared even after 6 years of passing the law.

What is the new amendment?

• The government is planning to dilute the 100m prohibited area around nationally protected monuments.
• The proposed amendment aims to allow the Central government to construct within that area all kinds of structures.

What is the importance of prohibited zones?

• The above mentioned problems reveal that, at present, only solid protection to monuments comes from courts of law.
• Courts prevent constructions mainly using the legal provisions of prohibited zone around monuments.
• India’s monuments form an irreplaceable archive of our civilizational heritage.
• So it is essential to continue with the 100 m protected area in order to prevent monuments from defacement and to prevent the present constructions from displacing the past aesthetics.

Source: The Hindu