Heritage Alerts June 2009
Chennai, June1-The UNESCO-acclaimed World Heritage Nilgiris Mountain Railway (NMR), whose train featured in the famous Chhaiyaa, Chhaiyaa song, is all set to get the much needed facelift.
The metre-gauge train, which chugs through the beautiful terrain of the Nilgiris mountains and has won the hearts of local and foreign tourists for over a century, requires extensive repairs.
The Mettupalayam Coonoor section of the mountain railway was thrown open to public on June 15, 1899 and the line was extended to Udhagamandalam in 1908. Southern Railway (SR) has chalked out a two pronged approach to address both track and locomotive issues for the 46.61 km long metre gauge rail line. "We intend to complete track renewal for close to 17 kms of track which have been identified out of the total section, along with reconditioning of steel sleepers," SR Spokesperson Neenu Ittyerah told PTI.
She said tenders would be floated very shortly to choose the contractors for the facelift works of the track. "New rack chairs, which are an integral part of this specialized track structure, are being manufactured in our own workshops," she said. However, the railway official said there would not be any additional coaches or any modification to the train on the route.
- Assam Tribune, June 2, 2009
Encroachment on land belonging to the Delhi Development authority (DDA) is nothing new, but this time round heritage monuments have been encroached on in Mehrauli area.
Bagichi Masjid, housing the Majar of Bab Ajam Shah, in DDA's Mehrauli Complex will soon be notified as a protected monument by the state archaeological department. But when HT visited the place, we saw that a stone wall had been painted over white and green and the insides have been turned into living quarters with nails for curtains and electric wires drilled inot the fabric of the late Mughal era structure.
One Imam Ibrahim teaches 20 children there. "This is a madrassa. We are staying here since the last 10 months. I am a salaried employee of the Delhi Waqf Board", Ibrahim said.
But Waqf Board officials sought to distance themselves. Consultants to Delhi Waqf Board Jamil Murtja said, "We have asked them only to offer namaz and not to stay there. We will take action if we get any complaint".
One more unprotected monument-Takya of Kamli Shah-in the neighbourhood has met the same fate. This structure situated atop a small hillock on the outskirts of Mehrauli village while going from the Dadadham Jain temple side, has been altered drastically and only a small stone arch remains as evidence of the late Mughal era structure.
Incidentally, both the DDA and Delhi Waqf Board have put up signs side by side, claiming 'trespassers would be prosecuted". In both cases, DDA officials hardly seem to be bothered. "The Waqf Board has laid claim on the land and we are getting it clarified from the local revenue records," is all that a DDA Horticulture official said.
Concerned over the degradation and the increased encroachment in the area, prominent residents of the area- photographer Raghu Rai and his conservation architect wife Gurmeet Rai last month wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
"It is not just an issue of encroachment but damage to heritage monuments. There are other encroachments too, like a temple on DDA land. There is also this problem of rubble dumpled into our area," Rai said.
"The DDA is least bothered about these things. So we approached the CM. she had assured us that issue would be looked into after the elections are over," Rai told HT.
Another prominent resident, a Muslim gentleman, echoed the sentiments. "I have talked to these people in the mosque. They are not mullahs but just land-grabbers. Like me, there are many Muslims in the area and all of us are angry at the development. Every single government department is involved in this," the resident, who did not wish to be named, said.
- Hindustan Times, June 3, 2009
Chandigarh: The Haryana government on Wednesday announced stiff fines on plastic bags that don't conform to norms. Claiming that all regional offices of the Haryana Pollution Control Board had been alerted, Haryana environment minister Kiran Choudhry said strict implementation of orders and deterrent action against violators was called for. ''I've asked officials to carry out regular inspections and send a monthly report to the headquarters. We should have environment soldiers at the district level to spearhead the antiplastic campaign,'' she added.
Unhappy with the latest directive, Charanjiv Singh, a leading trader of the region, who has been campaigning against the ban on plastic said, ''Such drastic measures are uncalled for. Instead of levying such penalties, the government should educate the public on use of polythene bags.''
Haryana has also banned the sale and use of plastic plates, cups , tumblers, spoons, forks and straws in areas of special historical, religious and ecological significance which include the municipality limits of Thanesar and Kurukshetra towns, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and the Morni panchayat.
- Times of India, June 4, 2009
Some of the city's biggest landmarks have just got richer. The Union ministry of culture has allotted to them many more crores than they were used to.
Better still, the ministry, which increased he budgets as part of a "massive" upgrade, has no plan to stop being generous.
This year about RS 21 crore each has been allotted to Victoria Memorial and Asiatic Society, four to five times the amount they got in previous years, said culture secretary Jawahar Sircar, in the city on Wednesday. National library has got Rs 19.5 crore and Indian Museum Rs 29 crore.
The money is meant for "modernization" and probably could be called a revival package for the city's institutions; through Sircar stressed Calcutta was alive.
Asiatic Society plagued by a number of problems, including reports of valuable artifacts, such as copper plates from the Pala age, disappearing, has been allotted the money to added two floors to the new building on Park Street and change its facade and for a new building in Salt Lake.
Victoria Memorial, too, has got the "unprecedented" amount to be more accessible. "So far Victoria Memorial has been managed with curatorial knowledge" said Sircar. But five of its galleries, designed by the National Institute of Design (NID), should be state-of-the-art places, with souvenir shops, quality publications, lights and digitization of artifacts.
National library has got funds for the "retro-conversion of records", which means the conversion of hand-written catalogue cards into machine-readable format. "About Rs 9.49 crore has been allotted for retro-conversion," said Sircar. "Unaccessioned" books, titles sent to the library but not registered, are being catalogued. As there is shortage of staff, new books often pile up.
"The backlog of 'unaccessioned' books is being worked on. In the first phase, there are 2.5 lakh titles in Indian languages and 20, 000 in English," said Sircar. The work has been outsourced.
Funds were not really the problem, Sircar said. More funds could follow depending on "the capacity of the professionals".
There were other problems with city institutions, he acknowledged, but said that there were checks in place.
On the CBI inquiry against Chittaranjan Panda, secretary and curator, Victoris Memorial, under the scanner following allegations of fake works of art installed at the memorial, Sircar said the authorities were waiting till the probe was over. But he added that he has spoken to the CBI director on the matter, stressing that the image of the memorial should not be tarnished.
Sircar also allayed fears about the suggestion of installing a mansard roof atop the Indian Museum. Many feel a sloping roof, like the one at Writers' Buildings, would be a disaster for the museum. Sircar said no decision was taken yet; one would be taken only after public discourse and ensuring that the building can withstand such an installation.
On the dissapearnace of artifacts from Asiatic Society, in which some feel high-powered insiders are involved, Sircar said that the institution, along with a few others, has been asked to go for "100 percent cataloguing" after physical verification, which would record an item only after it was found to be physically on the premises.
That way, he said, if a Buddha head was in the catalogue it would be found within the institution..
- The Telegraph, Calcutta, June 11, 2009
Guwahati, June 20-A Nagaon-based voluntary organization Prakalpa Sangrakshana, has restored a four-foot-tall Bishnu idol unearthed on Chaturbhuja Nagaon Narowa Bali Satra Campus. The idol, which is stated to be the largest of the Bishnu idols found so far in the satra institutions of the State, was unearthed at the Pura Bheti of the Bali Satra on February 24 last. However, it was recovered in innumerable pieces.
Bijoy Bhuyan, a Delhi-based artist and art teacher, who has been taking regular trips to his homeland, supervised the entire restoration work. Three sculptors of Nagaon town, Biman Hazarika, a lecturer-cum-researcher of Neo Vaishanavite Satra, Sattra Parichalana Samiitee assisted the restoration work and finally succeeded in giving it a proper shap after seven days of relentless and tiresome work.
Prof Kesavananda Dev Goswami, noted Vaisnavite scholar visited the site and hoped that the restored statue would throw some light on undiscovered facts of the Narowa group of satras and neo-Vaisbavite movement. This is perhaps the first restoration work of this kind taken up by a voluntarily body of the state.
Bijoy Bhuyan and Biman Hazarika have undertaken a series of restoration works in some fo the most dilapidated stras, which include Leteri Salaguri, Kobaikota, Patekibori, Balisatra, Na-satra and Kuji and the Srimanta Sanakaradeva research Centre, Barodowa since 2007.
A photographic exhibition highlightening the activities of the organization will be held on June 21 at Hotel Ambarish in the city where the organizers will share their experiences with the media and public, said a press release here.
- Assam Tribunee, June 21, 2009
Hampi Development Authority, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the State Archeological Department have stopped the construction of a Jain Theerthankara temple at Ratnakoota in Hampi on the ground that the work is in violation of Ancient Monumnets Preservation Act, which provides for provides for preservation of ancient monuments and objects of archaeological, historical or artistic interest
The Hampi World Heritage Site is a restricted are and construction of any new building in the vicinity is strictly prohibited.
Even the modification and reconstruction of old buildings in the area must be taken up only after obtaining permission from the Authority, the Archaeological Survey of India and Gram Panchayat concerned.
However, the Ramachandra Ashram Seva Trust, run by the local Jain community, started the temple construction, which had been stayed, Hampi Development Authority Commission G N Shivamurthy informed. In a clarification, managing trustee of the Trust, Gevarchand, has objected to the stay claiming that the land on which he temple was coming up had been gifted to the Trust by the erstwhile Mysore rulers. The Trust had been in possession of the land since 1965 by paying property tax, he asserted.
- Deccan Herald, June 22, 2009
Union Minister for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh said here today that 40 per cent work of the Rs 300-crore Dal Lake cleaning project had been accomplished, while the remaining part would be completed within the next two years.
He was addressing a press conference along with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the banks of the Dal Lake here this afternoon. They agreed to work proactively so that projects taken up for the conservation of lakes and forests in the state were completed in a time-bound manner.
The Union Minister assured Omar of the Centre's full support in protecting the state's environment and forests. He disclosed that the state government would create a State Compulsory Afforestation Management Authority shortly so that it was in a position to utilize its share of Rs 181 crore collected by the CAMPA for compulsory afforestation projects.
Jairam Ramesh, who arrived here yesterday, giving an overview of the prestigious Dal restoration plan, said after the joint air survey of the lake with the Chief Minister and by boat, he realized that it was not only a lake that needed to be cleansed, but an ecological and social system that embedded a large number of wetlands and nearly 10,000 families.
"In Phase I, the Central government has funded entire Rs 300 crore for cleaning the project. While visiting the lake, I have observed that large sections of the lake have been cleaned. The state government today presented a comprehensive proposal of Rs 1, 100 crore to save the ecosystem of the Dal lake by cleaning and rehabilitating 10, 000 families. We need to find the remaining Rs 800 crore for the resettlement and rehabilitation of the Dal dwellers, "he said.
Omar said the government was exploring an extensive programme to upgrade the degraded forest cover of the state. "Extensive portions of our forest area are degraded. We are examining ways and means to implement a project for upgrading degraded state forests," he said. He added Rs 181 crore deposited with the CAMPA under the state's share would be fully utilized in this direction.
Expressing concern over the dwindling of the Wullar lake, which used to be once the largest freshwater lake in Asia, Jairam said he attached the highest priority to the restoration of the Wullar Lake. "Wullar is the other of all lakes. The State government has submitted a proposal to the Central government worth Rs 386 crore to conserve the lake," he said.
On the action plan for cleaning of the Jhelum, the Union minister said the plan was under discussion and that he would like to take up the project on the analogy of the Ganga and the Yamuna cleaning plans.
Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh yesterday visited major water bodies along with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. They visited Dal, Nageen, Khushalsar, Anchar, Manasbal and Wullar lakes as a part of Centre's review of the projects under execution for the conservation of water bodies in the state.
An official spokesman said they discussed measures to protect and preserve water bodies with special reference to Dal and other lakes and Jairam Ramesh highlighted the need for protecting these in the larger interests of the state.
Omer informed the union minister that his government had already started a massive development plan to protect these lakes under which lakhs of saplings had been planted.
- The Tribune, New Delhi, June 23, 2009
New Delhi 22 June: Delhi government today allocated Rs 45 crore for the current fiscal for the ambitious Connaught Place redevelopment plan under which the landmark area will be restored to its original glory.
The Rs 253-crore project, being executed by New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), has been approved as the first City Infrastructure Development Project under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban renewal Mission.
The first installment of Rs 22 crore for the project was released last year, finance minister A K Walia said presenting the budget.
The NDMC will undertake façade restoration of all the blocks of CP under the redevelopment project. The civic agency had completed the restoration of C Block on pilot basis last year, which was subsequently approved by the Delhi Urban Art Commission. Work has now started on A and E blocks.
Originally the entire redevelopment project was to be completed before the start of the Commonwealth Games 2010 but the civic body has now decided to complete only the façade restoration work before the event.
The other components like building of underground service ducts, centralized air-conditioning system and construction of underground parking spaces will be taken up later.
- Statesman, June 23, 2009
New Delhi: A temporary bus depot being planned on the Yamuna riverbed close to the Commonwealth Games Village has met with stiff resistance from certain environment groups. Citing the L-G's moratorium on further construction activity on the riverbed, the group claimed that allowing even something temporary will open the gates for more such projects to come up on the floodplain.
The depot will be developed by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to park around 300 buses meant specially for the Games on a 6-acre area. It will be allotted to it by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on a temporary basis and will have to be vacated within a week of end of the games. The project strangely has been cleared by the L-G, through on the condition that no permanent construction is allowed at the site.
"Even though they are saying that no permanent structures will come up, the riverbed does not have the type of soil that will allow parking unless it is concretized. Once the project is cleared, anything can be done there on the pretext of the Games. When there are alternative sites available in and around the Village, why is the riverbed being thrown open to this kind of activity? This will also set a bad precedence for other agencies who will all rush for so called temporary set-ups on the riverbed," said Manoj Misra, convenore Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.
However, DTC officials maintain they will not be deviating from the conditions set out for the depot." It is being allotted to use on a temporary basis so there is no question of us not vacating the place after the Games. Only bare minimum work will take place there that includes compaction of ground for parking, bringing in a CNG pipeline for fuelling and some temporary structures," said a senior DTC official. The conditions laid out for the temporary bus depot include no permanent construction. The land will remain with DDA and will only be licensed to DTC till a week after the Games are over.
New Delhi: Every two minutes a plane flies over the 13th century Qutab Minar, a fact that is giving Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials sleepless nights. They are worried that the vibrations from the aircraft could affect the foundation of the monument, one of the tallest in the world and which is located in a seismic zone.
The ASI has now taken up the matter with the civil aviation ministry. According to sources, ASI has expressed concern over the frequent flights over the monument and has written to the civil aviation ministry asking it to ensure that low-flying planes do not come close to the 72.5-m high monument..
Said ASI joint director-general Dr. B.R. Mani: "Ever since the new runway was inaurgrated last September, Qutab Minar has fallen in the approach path and the frequency of planes flying over the monument has increased tremendously. We believe that a plane flies over the tower every two minutes and the vibrations from the plane can affect the minar's foundation". The new runway is one of the longest in Asia and ASI is believed to have told the civil aviation ministry to change the flight path of the planes. Sources in the civil aviation ministry said they were looking into the matter and if necessary, a study would be conducted.
ASI is no mood to take any chances with Qutab Minar. The minar built by Qutubuddin Aibak in 1173 was the first monument in the capital to be awarded the world heritage status by UNESCO in 1993. It is also the most visited monument in Delhi, followed closely by Red Fort. Sources say that upto 10, 000 people visit Qutab Minar on a daily basis.
- Times of India, June 24, 2009
CHIEF Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday accepted in the assembly that her government's Yamuna Action Plan has been a failure and that the government will not be able to clean the river before the Commonwealth Games next October
Apologizing for the failure, Dikshit said the government would need another seven or eight years to clean the river. Till next year's Games, the government will only concentrate on beautifying the riverbanks, not the river itself, according to Dikshit.
"Unfortunately, complicated technologies is required for cleaning the river", Dikshit said in the Assembly. "We have already spent several crores in the task (cleaning the Yamuna). The city's population is increasing at a great sped and several lakh heads are added to the population every year, which also worsens sanitation condition and adds burden on the river." Dikshit made the comments while replying to BJP MLA from Karol Bagh S P Ratawal.
In his speech, Ratawal said, "Delhi is responsible for polluting 80 percent of the river flows through Delhi. The government has spent Rs 2,800 crore on cleaning it but there has been no result as yet. "He asked, "Will the government be able to clean the Yamuna ahead of the Commonwealth Games?"
The government had earlier spent money sending bureaucrats to Paris and London to study how those cities keep the Thames and Seine Rivers, respectively, clean. But Dikshit said both rivers are very different from the Yamuna. She said the models used for cleaning these rivers cannot be replicated for Yamuna.
The government has roped in Engineers India Limited to install interceptor sewers along the Yamuna but the sewers are still only in the planning stage. The government also plans to construct 19 sewage treatment plants to ensure that the river gets relatively clean water.
Initiated by the Centre in 1993, the Yamuna Action Plan has been under fire for not cleaning even one cusec (cubic foot per second) water despite expenditures of over Rs 1, 200 crore on the project. After the first clean-up plan did precious little for Yamuna, the government developed Yamuna Action Plan-II in December 2004. The second plan identified a few new cities in Uttar Pradesh that are seen as contributing to the river's pollution. The project was scheduled for a November 2009 completion.
A "REGULAR anti-encroachment" demolition drive by the DDA has raised a small storm in Mehrauli.
The agency on Monday evening demolished parts of a mosque that it claims was illegally jutting into a Lodhi-era ruin of an arch at Andheria More in mehrauli. But several locals pelted stones at DDA officials in protest. Among the protestors were young students who lived and studied in the madarsa run by the local imam, and residents who said they offer prayers regularly at the mosque.
The site is recorded in conservation panel INTACH's list of heritage structures as the ruin of an arch dating back to the Lodhi period. It is said to have been a complete arch till 1993, when a builder demolished it partially.
The imam and members of the mosque, known as Masjid Dibiya Wali, said the land was transferred to the Delhi Wakf Board in a notification issued in 1970, and that the wall and the tin shed demolished by the DDA are part of the mosque's land.
DDA officials, however, maintain it was a "regular drive" to remove encroachment. "No part of the heritage structure or even the mosque was touched, "a DDA official said. DDA's public relation director Neemo Dhar told Newsline: "The mosque has not been demolished. Only a tin structure adjoining the mosque was being removed when there was resistance from residents."
But members of the mosque's managing committee have decided to seek compensation for the damage. Committee president Moulana Mohammad Talha said, "Children studied here and some of us also lived here to protect the mosque. It is more than 150 years old."
Committee members, though, agreed the mosque was not used for prayers for several decades after Independence and it was revised only over the last couple of moths.
Delhi Metro had a couple of years ago realigned its Central Secretariat to Gurgaon corridor, which runs right over the mosque, to bypass the heritage structure. The realignment was done after INTACH raised objection that part of the Metro stretch obscured the Qutab Minar's view. INTACH also sought to protect several small heritage structures that fall on the route.
A conservation architect (name withheld on request) said the Lodhi-era ruin has extensive calligraphy on the remaining part of the arch. "it is in a very poor state." The architect said, "but can be restored if the foundation is excavated. The remaining part of the arch can also be conserved."
- Indian Express, June 24, 2009
To save four water bodies in Bakkarwala, residents of villages-Ranola, Baapdola, Tilangpur Kotla and Bakkarwala along with those of JJ clusters (Gurdayal Vihar, Chanchal Park, Akash Vihar, Kotla Vihar and Satyam Vihar) have started a desiltation and plantation drive.
Environmentalists believe the step would encourage others to work as responsible citizens and preserve nature. At a time when the country is battling with water crises, initiatives like these from civil society are warranted to revive the depleting water tables and the nature's health.
The residents, who are waiting for the monsoon for large-scale plantation, feel water bodies are vital for sustaining the hydrological balance. It can also relieve them of water woes.
Earlier, they had taken to the streets against encroachment by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to protect the area's natural preserves. In December last year, the DTC had been allotted 26-acre land in the area on lease to construct a depot-cum-dump yard so that more low-floor buses could be accommodated, but the locals have thwarted all efforts of the government.
Bhagat Singh, a resident, said "When we came to know that the government had been planning to grab the land in the name of development, on February 12 we wrote to various government authorities to shift the prject. When no response came, we sent a reminder on May 12.
Diwan Singh of Natural Heritage First said, "On three occasions in the past, the administration tried to acquire the land, but received stiff resistance from locals. On May 11, nearly 250 policemen were deployed in the area to take charge of the situation but to no avail."
Vinod Jain of Tapas NGO called for legal protection of ponds, irrespective of their mention in revenue records. He said, "The Delhi high court has already directed the state government to protect water bodies. Several notices have been issued to the state government on the same."
According to siurces, discussions on reconsidering the bus depot are going on between Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and area MP Mahabal Mishra. It is learnt the government might look out for an alternative site, probably in Kair village, where a bus depot is already under-construction on a five acre land of the gram sabha.
Vikram Soni from Natural Heritage First, a research scientist with National physical laboratory, has praised the locals who have dared to go against the government to preserve natural essences from being swallowed by urban sprawl.
- Tribune, June 30, 2009
