Monuments in India unprotected, says ASI

There are 33,826 unprotected monuments with Rajasthan leading the list.

New Delhi: There are 33,826 unprotected monuments in India with Rajasthan leading the list, says the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The findings come from the National Mission of Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA), established by the ASI in 2007 to prepare a national database of monuments to create a heritage catalogue. Rajasthan has 5,220 unprotected monuments followed by Uttar Pradesh with 3,653 monuments. West bengal has 3,627 monuments while Orissa has 3,248 unprotected monuments, followed by Haryana at 2,537. Puducherry has 1,800 unprotected monuments while Goa has 1,384, Maharashtra 972 and Himachal Pradesh 909, a statement released by the ministry of culture said Tuesday. In an attempt to create a national register on built heritage and sites, the NMMA is compiling relevant information as available from secondary sources. So far, more than 32,000 villages containing information on unprotected built heritage and sites have been compiled in the template. The NMMA has also taken up the work of digitisation of records of registered antiquities through the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts. This would finally form the database of antiquities. IANS