As per the submission made in the Parliament by the Ministry of Culture, up to 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments are missing.
Uttar Pradesh had 11 monuments that are missing, Delhi and Haryana had 2 monuments each. Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand also had a number of monuments that are currently missing
The Parliamentary Committee noted that out of the 92 monuments declared as missing by CAG, 42 have been identified due to efforts made by the ASI, but from the remaining list of 50 monuments, 14 have been affected by rapid urbanisation, 12 have been submerged by reservoir or dams and the location of the remaining 24 is untraceable.
“…It is a matter of grave concern that several monuments of national importance under the protection of Archaeological Survey of India (Ministry of Culture) have become untraceable over the years due to rapid urbanisation, (being) submerged by reservoirs (and) dams, difficulties in tracing in remote locations (and) dense forests, non-availability of their proper location, etc,”
This is according to submissions made by the ministry on December 8 to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture as part of a report, titled ‘Issues Relating to Untraceable Monuments and Monument Protection in India’.
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