The cultural heritage of India, dating back to several thousand years, is among humanity’s priceless assets; it is as varied as it is rich. This cultural property is an asset which is seriously threatened today and although there are ongoing efforts to protect and preserve this heritage, these are fragmented, lack institutional and legal frameworks, or the holistic and multi-sectoral linkages to make them effective.*

 

INTERNATIONALLY, the historic preservation movement is the most important change to have occurred in architecture and urban planning since the so called ‘modern movement’ which can be considered its antithesis. Yet, in India, for a conservation architect, it is unthinkable to expect a client to approach you with a job; normally, projects need to be identified and funds raised, and it is not unusual to have a 3-5 year gap between project identification and implementation. Today, we still need to make a case for conservation, to convince the powers that be that conservation is no drain on meager financial resources but an important component of any development proposal for historic precincts.

We are still a few years (maybe decades!) away from a period when there will be widespread realization that meaningful conservation can be a means to solve many of India’s persistent problems – communal harmony could be achieved with better understanding of other’s cultures; historic buildings in towns where women are not encouraged to work could be used as vocational training centres for women’s empowerment; appropriate infrastructure such as drinking water supply, sanitation and street furniture in historic settlements could help improve living standards in historic, often poor, neighbourhoods; use of existing infrastructure, traditional building materials and techniques, tourist inflow and visitor spending could lead to financial gain; reuse of historic buildings for village level schools where children, especially the girl child, are not encouraged to move out could help root out illiteracy; traditional building techniques if widely practiced could help solve the unemployment crisis while being energy efficient and sustainable.

 

 

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) needs no introduction to anyone remotely connected to conservation in India. After working as a volunteer with the Conservation Society of Delhi for five years towards awareness generation, I joined INTACH Delhi Chapter as a consultant in 1995. Along with O.P. Jain, Convenor, INTACH Delhi Chapter and its members, we have worked silently, with resolve, to implement conservation projects, bring about policy change, spread awareness and to stop destruction of heritage components through public interest litigations. During the course of our work we have interacted with a variety of government agencies ranging from the tourism board, local authorities, schools and colleges, neighbourhood organisations, government ministries, among others and these have provided us with many opportunities to improve the condition of our heritage for future generations.

As early as 1864, India was among the first nations in the world to legislate for protecting its heritage. However, since independence in 1947, we remained preoccupied with modernisation of society and in the process have fallen behind the international conservation movement. As such, we in Delhi have been attempting to achieve in a few years what took decades to accomplish in Europe, for each delay leads to further loss of heritage components. This has meant that we have had to spread our resources and work on several fronts at the same time. Also, we have had to convince officialdom that conservation can be used as a means to achieve development objectives. Conservation continues to be seen as an elite oriented movement and, as such, most of our projects have had community benefit as an unstated agenda.

In order to work in a planned, sustainable manner, it was necessary for us to begin with the very basics. Late into the 20th century we still did not have an inventory of our heritage stock. For a city with a millennium long history we had nothing to go by except for individual assessments and the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) protected list of a measly 170 protected monuments. The only survey was in the 1910s with the intention of ensuring that no religious buildings were demolished for the construction of the British capital; clearly this was not enough.

 

 

In the listing process that culminated in March 2000 with the publication of the two volume, Delhi: The Built Heritage, 1208 buildings of heritage value were identified, photographed, plotted on development plans for the city as were 28 conservation precincts. The publication, supported by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), was only the first step towards conservation. The local authority having supported the publication was obliged to take steps to ensure the survival of the listed buildings and conservation areas. Finally, with much lobbying and several hundred hours of meetings, notifications were issued in 2002 by the New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), both local authorities, informing the public of the protection of listed buildings within their areas of jurisdiction. However, despite the notifications, eight buildings were demolished in 2002-03. INTACH Delhi Chapter filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, successfully seeking orders to ensure proper legislation and its implementation.

 

 

The task of documenting and protecting our heritage required persistent and rational argument at all levels of government from the planning officers to political heads; it also required fundraising both from the government and private organisations such as the Eicher group. Though convincing politicians and officials was easily the most frustrating aspect of our effort, it was necessary and essential to the success of all future work.

Together with the listing initiative, a major project was launched to undertake urgently needed conservation work on St James Church, the first church to have been built in Delhi in AD 1824. The church authorities approached INTACH with serious structural and weatherproofing problems in the building. Following a detailed assessment, a major inter-national fund raising drive ensured conservation work on all aspects of the building, from the stained glass to the dome. The government was the largest donor to the project. The project was also used as a training ground, and instead of shipping the dismantled stained glass to the UK for conservation, two experts were brought in and all facilities including a kiln were made available on site and a training workshop held for Indian students in the art of stained glass conservation. Today, at least one of those students, Manikanandan, has undertaken major conservation projects all over the country to restore colonial period stained glass. There was constant dialogue with the church authorities during the course of the project to ensure maintenance without the use of modern materials as also to dissuade further construction within the church compound.

One of our long-standing and largest projects has been the conservation of unprotected monuments in the Mehrauli area adjoining the World Heritage Site of Qutub Minar. A major reforestation scheme in the 1970s saw over 100 acres of land adjoining the Qutub complex converted into a green reserve. The listing exercise indicated that there were over 70 monuments within this complex that were unprotected and suffering from neglect, vegetation growth, encroachment and vandalism.

 

 

The potential of the area as an archaeological park was clear from the onset and its proximity to the World Heritage Site made it more attractive, possibly as an extension to the WHS or a buffer zone. The significance of the site led us to focus our resources here for the past eight years. During this period, 35 monuments have undergone conservation work and heritage trails and signage are being established (proposed in 1997 but approved for funding and implementation only in 2003) to convert this area into a sensitive archaeological park rather than a sanitation ground.

The effort involved lobbying with the political leadership and officials from various departments, from the chief minister to the gardener or guard, as a result of which Delhi Tourism has consistently funded the conservation initiatives over six phases of work. DDA, the land owning agency cooperates in maintaining the horticultural component of the park; the MCD and the Delhi Water Supply and Sewage undertaking has carried out a considerable quantum of work to convert open drains into underground pipes. The Archaeological Survey of India protects and owns four buildings within the park and along with the State Department of Archaeology has now taken steps to extend its ownership and protection to buildings already conserved. The Delhi Police have stepped up vigil to make the area safe and to ensure no encroachments take place. Above all, our public awareness campaigns have often led to workshops for schoolchildren being held at this locale.

 

 

In the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, despite a limited budget supported by Delhi Tourism, close to a decade of constant lobbying both in the press and with officials, has led to over 100 acres of prime land been titled an archaeological park in the forthcoming Master Plan. This is no small victory but an exercise made possible with single mindedness towards a cause that hopefully would be replicated elsewhere in the country. Over the years, several officers needed to be convinced of our agenda. The quality of work had to be of the highest standards at low costs in order to ensure continued support from all quarters. Swamps of garbage and filth had to be removed and converted into areas accessible to the public and tourists who visit the World Heritage Site.

The Mehrauli Archaeological Park is today a playground of learning for Delhi’s students and visitors alike and affords a place for enjoyment for Mehrauli’s 2,00,000+ populace. Once the trails and signage are installed by autumn 2004, the area will be more easily accessible and the experience for visitors more educative. Above all, a major green space would have been returned to Delhi.

In close proximity to the Archaeological Park is the urban village of Lado Serai. Along a major transport artery running past the village stands a 15th century domed pavilion, possibly built to serve as a tomb. Though standing on government land, it had been gradually encroached upon as a car repair workshop, such that even to photograph the building during the listing exercise resulted in a criminal assault.

 

 

In 2001, after much lobbying with the Vice Chairman of DDA, the area was cleared of encroachment. This was followed by the DDA funding a conservation initiative to the tune of Rs 2,85,000 for the building. Though a measly amount by international standards, it was enough to undertake conservation, including reinstating some of the tile work, fragments of which were discovered on the building. DDA also built a park providing the building a dignified setting and the local populace an enhanced village environment.

At the commencement of the project there was much local opposition as conserving the tomb was not seen as a worthwhile endeavour. However, in the end the project was significant, for the local stakeholders realised that it improved the living environment and the precinct provided the village children a much needed open space. Night time illumination of the building has also enhanced the city skyline along a major transport artery. It was also the first ever funding of a conservation initiative by the DDA which has since then supported other similar projects.

Among our other projects, it is worthwhile mentioning an ongoing one on the State Bank of India (SBI) building in Chandni Chowk, the heart of the old city in Delhi. One of the largest buildings on the historic street, it has suffered from years of inappropriate alterations, additions and maintenance regimes. Its facade has been disfigured and replastered in cement – setting off a deterioration process. Over two years of regular discussions led to the project being undertaken in a phased manner, commencing with the façade and banking hall. The restoration of the façade has benefited not only the building but also attracted visibility to the bank and helped improve the character of a part of Chandni Chowk. Even more encouraging is that several banks located on the street have now approached us to undertake similar work on their buildings. If some others too show interest the time and effort spent in convincing officials and making trips to the State Bank would have been well spent.

 

 

However, not everything can be achieved by lobbying. On several occasions we have had to campaign through the press and the courts to ensure protection of our heritage. In a single PIL to ensure protection of the listed buildings we had to approach the courts against at least eight government agencies, including those we often work with such as the ASI and the State Department of Archaeology. In such a situation it was necessary to first warn the officers concerned about our intentions and to convince them that a court ruling would help achieve objectives quickly by overruling vested interests hostile to any protection for heritage components. The PILs filed by INTACH Delhi Chapter have helped ensure that the Lutyens Canopy in New Delhi survives as does the Chaumachi Khan’s Tomb in Mehrauli. Another PIL, fiercely contested, ensured that the precinct of the Shahjahani mosque in close proximity to the Delhi Red Fort was not randomly built upon.

I was fortunate to be involved in the recently completed garden restoration project at the World Heritage Site of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. Working on behalf of the Aga Khan Trust For Culture (AKTC), which funded the US$ 750,000 project, and together with officers of the Archaeological Survey of India, this was the first privately funded effort at any of India’s protected or World Heritage Sites. It was also the first National Culture Fund (NCF) project to be completed and India’s first garden conservation project.

 

 

The project was conceived by R.C. Agrawal, then Director Monuments, ASI; the funding by AKTC was seen as a gift by the Aga Khan to India on the occasion of our 50th anniversary of independence. Though the funding was agreed on in 1997, it took two years for the first grant to be released. An MoU between ASI, AKTC, NCF, the Oberoi’s (who paid towards illumination) and the Indo British 50th Anniversary Trust (the catalyst agency which brought ASI and AKTC together) was signed in April 1999. Similarly, though the second grant of $ 50,000 was made to the NCF immediately after the signing in April 1999, it was another two years before work started.

During 1999-2001, a major success was the sensitive illumination which brought good press coverage and much cheer to everyone concerned with the project. It resulted in establishing a regular monitoring process for the project and instructions for works to be contracted but carried out under close AKTC-ASI supervision. This directive allowed works to commence at a speed which ensured their completion within two years. The course of the project saw four Director Generals, two Director Monuments, two chief horticulturists and three Superintending Archaeologists implying that many issues had to be renegotiated. Fortunately, AKTC could bring in specialized consultants in the fields of landscape, horticulture, hydrological engineering, conservation, geology, botany and art history, and training of craftsmen became an essential component of the project.

 

 

Because of its World Heritage status, the Humayun’s Tomb garden restoration project required constant interaction with international agencies such as Unesco, Icomos and Iccrom. The 30-acre garden involved, among other conservation works, repair of three kilometres of water channels, restoring 3.5 kilometres of pathway edging, removing 3000 truckloads of excess earth, four kilometres of hand-chiselling sandstone, planting 2500 plants favoured by the Mughals. In addition, 25000 square metres of pathways were restored, an exhaustive rainwater harvesting system introduced, minor structures conserved, historic wells discovered and desilted, and providing wheelchair access and a site interpretation centre.

The completion of the project was celebrated with the restoration of water flowing in the channels after over 400 years. Though the AKTC offered to take up required work on the mausoleum, this was rejected by the authorities in the belief that external money was not required. Nevertheless after completion, the gardens were maintained for a year by AKTC (until 31 March 2004) during which time a maintenance plan was prepared by the ASI. It was agreed that the ASI would continue to employ private contractors for maintenance and maintenance of pumps. Water bodies, pathways and gardens would be the responsibility of the horticulture department. Continuous public and media interest would ensure that internationally accepted standards would be followed.

The press has been of great help in the conservation endeavour. Before the mid-1990s it was rare to see a heritage related story in the national press – it was not a topic considered worthy of regular coverage in the daily newspapers. Today, most newspapers have a dedicated journalist to cover heritage related issues. Some major campaigns have been conducted in the press, among them to save the Lutyens Bungalow Zone, the capital complex which the politician-builder-official nexus has constantly attempted to exploit for commercial interest. The press has also helped raise the profile of conservation work among the general public and bring into the official mainstream. In addition, in order to spread awareness to schoolchildren and college students, we organized regular walks in heritage areas such as Mehrauli and Humayun’s Tomb and even conducted teacher training workshops.

A willingness to work with government agencies in a transparent manner, together with ensuring high standards, has resulted in strong public support for conservation. It has enabled us to achieve long term targets in relatively short time frames. If we are to work towards conserving our past for future generations, it is imperative that those associated with conservation work together. It is now time to take steps to ensure that conservation becomes a truly mass movement with the enhanced public interest being converted into public involvement.

 

* World Bank Report, 1997.