Undeniable urgency
India is home to a congruence of the sixth most significant and stunning UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites that are standing monuments to the incredible Indian civilisation through millennia. Plagued with encroachment, vandalism, lack of funds, lack of swift implementation of by-laws governing heritage sites, urbanisation and pollution, many of them are crumbling and vanishing before our eyes.
Over 44 out of 92 centrally protected monuments have gone missing, and 24 remain untraceable, while 14 were severely impacted due to rapid urbanisation and 12 others slowly submerged under reservoirs created by dams with no due diligence to preservation of heritage in the vicinity. Notable among the disappearing heritage are the various Neolithic sites, the 16th century guns of Emperor Sher Shah in Assam, 14th century Barakhamba tomb monument in Delhi, Telia Nala Buddhist ruins in Varanasi, the Copper Temple Ruins in Arunachal Pradesh and various Kos Minars in Haryana. Shortage of manpower and internal capacity is a critical handicap. Often, a single conservator is straddled with looking after dozens of monuments, aided by little to no allocated budget or clear directives on by-laws and proactive mitigating mechanisms governing cultural heritage under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India. CAG Reports cite 4,800+ vacancies averaging over 45 per cent.
The National Mission on Monuments & Antiquities started documenting assets in 2007 and 10 years later managed to cull only about a quarter of the 400,000 monuments and 5.8 million antiquities. While 70 or so additional sites from an Archaeological inventory of 3,698 are poised for recognition by UNESCO, the urgency of protecting the 44 globally recognised sites and countless others is undeniable.
Meanwhile, tourists complain of a lack of connectivity, access for both abled and specially-abled, poorly written interpretive texts, signage, basic amenities of clean bathrooms, retail, promotions and safety. With foreign tourism numbers breaching 5.9 million last year and over 3 billion domestic tourists, it is a sector that can clearly augment revenues and employment in direct and allied sectors.
Beyond policy and by-laws, India can exponentially transform its efforts at managing and leveraging its incredible cultural assets by adopting a cohesive, coordinated and creative short- and long-term national strategy. First, it must be acknowledged that this is a multi-dimensional issue, where departments of education, culture. Tourism, archaeology, rural affairs, industry, transportation, science & technology and environment, among others, have to coalesce around recognising that heritage is the soft currency of India’s unity in diversity. It therefore calls for a continued investment in cash and kind from across sectors to nurture an ecosystem that eventually must self-sustain.
Next, an independent body can assess and create a tiered echelon of prioritised conservation, preservation and restoration efforts, with an incentivised fiscal model that draws on corporate social responsibility as a working platform offering time-bound deliverables that meet the highest global standards of best practices.
Subsequently, given the fractal nature of governance, it is imperative that an apex autonomous authority oversees operations of all UNESCO-designated World Heritage sites, adhering to codes of prescribed excellence across the board. This would also enable a coordinated tourism strategy for marketing, filming rights, retail, programming, facilities, security and maintenance, upgrades with an eye towards domestic and global digital engagement. In conjunction with a multi-pronged strategic initiative, the rapid filling of a vast number of vacancies and training becomes a vital requirement that would be useful to solve workload woes and maintain adequate levels of public services.
The global heritage sector is increasingly demonstrating the use of smart technology and AI in providing upgraded content, co-linked historical context, multi-lingual delivery, payment tools, identification of resources, authenticating provenance, seamless integration of allied services, sustainable experience options for the green savvy and feedback services, as well as virtual previews of difficult and inaccessible sites. Many of these initiatives are already in place with the establishment of Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) with tourism corridors connecting Kashi Vishwanath, Mahakaal Lok, Kamakhya and other lesser-known sites, including natural sites like the Meghalaya Age Caves, Varkala Cliffs, Tirumala Hills, St Mary’s Island Cluster, Deccan Traps and Mahabaleshwar, to name a few. The land of indigenous strengths, Vedic rigour, scriptural treasures, mythical might, monumental edifice and aspirational spirit will gain in reflective resilience as it values its virasat.