Squatters invade 249 heritage sites

MUMBAI: What is common between the intricately carved cave temples of Ellora in Maharashtra and Sher Shah's tomb at Sasaram in Bihar? Or for that matter, the breathtakingly beautiful Lamayuru monastery at Leh and the pre-historic rock shelters of Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh? Apart from being monuments of great historical significance, these are sites plagued with squatters.
Conservationists and historians have gone hoarse crying against the criminal neglect that institutions and officials show in protecting India's rich heritage. The union culture ministry has admitted to as many as 249 historical monuments in the country falling prey to encroachments. All these structures were given the status of `centrally protected monuments'.
``There are instances of illegal encroachments at these monuments due to several factors such as rapid urbanization, increasing pressure on land and commercialization,'' said an official from the culture ministry. In many cases, such as the caves at Jogeshwari, people have lived around them for years. Others, like the 18th century tomb of Bahu Begum at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, house the office of a political party. The result is that centrally protected monuments in 22 of 24 circles of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have been encroached upon.
Take, for instance, Maharashtra, where political parties are fighting to build a brand new multi-crore memorial for Shivaji but seem to have forgotten that the Maratha king's three historical forts at Sindhudurg, Solapur and Raigad are under illegal occupation. The Jogeshwari caves, a Portuguese monastery in Borivli and the fort at Vasai are among the 29 centrally protected monuments in Maharashtra that have been encroached upon.
Monuments from all historical periods - be it Stone Age sites in Tamil Nadu, ruins of Kachari culture in Assam or the fort of Prithviraj Chauhan at Hisar in Haryana - have been occupied by squatters.
Government sources say powers have been given to ASI officials under various laws to tackle the menace.
``The ASI has been keeping watch, deployed ward staff and private security guards at all sensitive monuments prone to encroachment. State police, home guards and CISF have also been deployed at a few sensitive monuments. Wherever feasible and necessary, efforts have been made to provide fencing around the centrally protected monuments,'' said an official from the culture ministry.
Monuments under threat from squatters:
Bibi Ka Maqbara, Aurangabad
Barabati Fort, Cuttack
Samudragupta's Fort, Allahabad
Shey Palace, Ladakh
Danteswari Temple, Dantewada
Rock-cut sculpture of Maitreya, Kargil
Asafi Mosque, Lucknow