The Central government can no longer find two centrally protected monuments in Delhi, junior tourism minister Prahland Singh Patel said in parliament today.
There are 174 monuments/sites that enjoy protection from the central government in Delhi.
These have been declared as monument of national importance in the Delhi under Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
The collection includes famous landmarks such as Lal Darwaza, Jantar Mantar, Tomb of Sikandar Lodi, Hauz Khas buildings, Chor Minar, Khirkee Masjid and so on.
These also include lesser known monuments and buildings, including several mosques in Munirka, an Ashokan rock edict at Bahapur, Nili Chhatri, Tomb of Amir Khusro, Mazar of Mirza Ghalib and so on.
The monuments are under contant threat of encroachment from their neihbours and real estate mafia in a city known for its encroachments and the power of its real estate mafia.
It is for this reason that they were included in a list under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
However, said Patel, the government has currently no clue what happened to 2 of the 174 monuments that it is ‘protecting’ as per the list.
“Two monuments namely Bara Khamba Cemetery and Inchla Wali Gumti, Mubarakpur Kotla have been reported as untraceable,” he said.
Interestingly, the central government has been spending crores of rupees on the conservation of these 174 monuments.
In 2016-17, it spent Rs 9.64 cr to protect and maintain the monuments, while in 2017-18, it spent 15.15 cr, and last year, it spent Rs 31.87 cr.
