Heritage bylaws on fast track to allow construction

NEW DELHI: The National Monuments Authority is looking to speed up the process of making heritage bylaws to cope with an increasing number of applications for construction in restricted areas. There are over 3,600 centrally protected monuments nationwide, of which 174 are in the capital alone. The authority, as such, has the onerous task of making bylaws for each and every centrally protected monument.To give relief to those still waiting for NOC, NMA has shortlisted 505 monuments to be prioritised.
In the coming winter session, bylaws for Lucknow’s Amjad Ali Shah mausoleum and Delhi’s Humayun’s Tomb group of monuments are expected to be presented. “Heritage bylaws are a relatively new concept and this will be the first time that any bylaw will be presented in Parliament. Once cleared, it will pave the way for other bylaws to be passed as and when they are ready,” said NMA member-secretary Navneet Soni.
NMA has prepared a list of national monuments it gets the maximum number of applications for, and sent the same to the Archaeological Survey of India to get station surveys done. As per the amended ASI Act, each bylaw should have two schedules completed — Schedule I being the technical part involving total station surveys and site plans; and Schedule II, which is more general and focuses on the monument itself. Officials said every ASI circle had been allotted separate budgets for getting total station surveys done of every protected monument in their jurisdiction.
The total station surveys will map each and every construction, building and structure within the 100m prohibited and 101-300m regulated zones of each monument. Experts said this should have been done many years ago, to keep track of construction around protected sites. Bylaws of monuments like Sher Shah Gate, Khairul Manzil and at least 17 sites prepared by Intach are also likely to be completed soon, after schedule I information on surveys is incorporated.
Sources said ASI is working on tight deadlines and has outsourced the job to experts. On the priroty list, Delhi has the maximum number of monuments at 78, followed by Chennai circle (59). There are 140 priority monuments in the northern region, 191 in southern, 53 in eastern, 83 in western and 38 in the central region.
Most of Delhi’s listed monuments are those in midst of densely located residential areas, such as Kala Gumbad in South-Ex, Nili Gumbad in Hauz Khas, Bijay Mandal in Malviya Nagar and Zafar Mahal in Mehruali. Heritage bylaws were made mandatory under the ASI Act amended in 2010, but, so far, not even one has been notified.