About 550 Monuments In AP Are In Shambles

The role of the department of archaeology and museums, as per its own admission on the official website, is that of preserving the ancient culture of Andhra Pradesh through protection, preservation and restoration of its rich wealth of monuments. Yet, 60% of AP’s glorious heritage comprising 550 protected monuments presently lie in a state of neglect with the state department busying itself with other projects, the latest being the wild goose chase for treasure in the heart of Hyderabad that many doubt even exists.

Not only has the department, incidentally the custodian of AP’s once glittering past, left many an iconic monument, such as the Koti Women’s College, Shaikpet Sarai, Patancheru tombs, Armenian Cemetery, Akkanna Madanna caves, Kondaveedu Fort, Bongir Fort, Kotagallu group of temples among others, to die a natural death by turning its back on their crumbling walls and ceilings, it has even inflicted further damage on several more by taking up unscientific restoration programmes. Topping this list is the 18th century Raymond’s tomb built in the memory of French general Michel Joachim Marie Raymond. Originally a granite structure, the integrity of the monument was massacred by the state department that in its wisdom chose cement as a raw material to repair it. 

Then there are others like the historic Seven Tombs from the Quli Qutub Shahi period or even the Taramati Baradari complex, which have fallen prey to the halfhearted efforts of restoration undertaken by the department. Beyond the city limits too, such cases are aplenty. The restoration of the Elgandal Fort near Karimnagar built in the mid-18th century and once home to five famous dynasties, for instance has been given a ‘modern’ look burying its ‘historical’ features. Ditto, the Sir Arthur Cotton museum near Rajahmundry that now has cement walls instead of the originallimestone and mortar ones. The Domakonda Fort at Nizamabad and the Jain temple at Warangal also figure on this exhaustive list.

A quick scan of it’s website that has only Gunfoundry as a featured heritage monument (there is no mention of the remaining 549), only further strengthens this claim. That this structure too, constructed during the periodof thesecond Nizam Nawab Mir Nizam Ali Khan, is ridden with restoration errors is another story. Once spread across a 20 km stretch the monument has now been reduced to a small dilapidated building cowed down by soaring apartments on all sides.

There are many more, assert heritage experts but rue that the actual figure is not known. Reason? The archaeology department has no record of the works undertaken by it over the last many years. Worse, even a consolidated list of protected monuments in the state that are under its custody is missing from the department’s office. There are no details of major excavation projects either that the department, as per the rulebook, is expected to maintain. And while officials of the department blame thelackof efforts for preserving the heritage on insufficient budget allocations -- Rs 1.5-Rs 2 crore annually -- sources claim that it isn’t quite the reason. “There are other funds too that come the department’s way. For instance, under the 12th finance commission the department received a whopping Rs 42.5 crore recently. There was another Rs 7 crore allocated to it under the central financial assistance scheme. Under the 13th finance commission too the department is expected to receive Rs 100 crore. Such allocations are enough for the department to execute its works,” said a source.

The department’s claim that it is hampered by staff shortage is also rubbished by most. Archaeologist K P Rao, formerly associated with the office, for instance pointed how the department, in the early days, did work systematically despite all odds. “I had worked there in 1986 when it was an organised body headed by knowledgeable people. Serious archaeological excavationsfollowing scientific methods of finding and conservation usedtotake place in spite of the lack of money and staff. The department currently seems to be working in a haphazard manner,” said Rao who currently heads the department of history, University of Hyderabad.

Predictably, listed structures have either become drunkards’ paradise over a period of time or converted into public urinals. Worse, precincts like the megalithic site in Hashmatpet are currently an official dumping yard of HMDA. “It’s unfortunate that the departmentdoes noteven have an assigned security guard at many of these sites to prevent such misuse,” said M A Nayeem, author of many a book on Hyderabad’s glorious heritage. Summing it up, historian Narender Luther said, “Heritagedoes not vote. Sowhy should anybody be bothered.” 

'NEGLIGENCE GAME' WITH ANCIENT STRUCTURES
Ancient they could be, but the heritage monuments in the city have donned a rather eerie “modern” look in the recent past. With archaeology department employing the most inexperienced of people to work on the most important of projects, the monuments and sites that could have been windows to the past are now reduced to modified, painted over buildings that bear little trace of the history they represent. From choosing public works department (PWD) engineers over conservation architects, to roping in people with little experience in archaeological documentation to work on digitising the most ancient of monuments and excavation sites, the department in the past few years seems have committed a series of ‘mistakes’ which according to city based heritage lovers reflect, above all, a lack of planning and commitment.

While the department brought out a 70-page booklet a few months ago mapping their work done in the past four years, many ‘achievements’ featured in it were widely criticized by heritage activists. For starters, the much-hyped project of digitising the monuments and excavation sites outsourced to Complete Business Solutions, a city-based company has drawn flak for not yielding results even two years after its commencement. Also, the department’s conservation and renovation activities at Seven Tombs, Taramati Baradari and Koti Women’s College among many others were in the firing line for being unscientific.

Started with an initial estimation of Rs 1 crore, the digitisation project which includes photographing, video recording and documentation of heritage monuments scattered across the state, now requires funds worth Rs 8 crore for its completion. The state government has slapped a show cause notice on the department demanding an explanation on why a contract for over Rs 6 crore was signed when the project was meant to be completed with just Rs 1 crore. But the department’s unjustified allocation of funds and haphazard acts of conservation does not stop with the most featured and discussed about project of digitization alone. Of the many unscientific restoration projects that the department has ‘sealed’ over time is also the magnificent Seven Tombs in the city. Taken up in 2010, this Rs 4 crore (approx) project ended in a mess, thanks to the department’s move to rope in a road contractor for the job.

“It is obvious that the project was outsourced to the contractor because he had ‘connections’ in the state department. Since only small repair works were done at the tombs, it is possible that a chunk of funds allocated for the project were siphoned off by the department’s officials,” alleged a heritage expert who had vehemently protested the selection of the contractor then.

Restoration work at Taramati Baradari was also carried out by a group of workers with little knowledge of heritage, experts said. In fact, there was not even a conservation architect to oversee the project. Even the committee, which was constituted just three months ago comprising senior officials of the department is supposedly scrutinizing every request for funds that comes from contractors, heritage activists from the city, rues that the department has got the basics of the conservation activity wrong. Most of the excavation and renovation work started by the department which is supposed to follow a scientific procedure of enquiry is done by inexperienced PWD engineers as against conservation architects. “The PWD was brought into picture four years ago when the department was unable to complete some works on time. But most of the works which are carried out using funds from the 12th finance commission are still being done by PWD,” said a government official in the know of things.

One of the monuments which have suffered under the PWD invasion is Koti Women’s College. “It is not just another building that can be plastered by regular engineers. Such slackness on the part of the concerned authorities is appalling,” said historian Narender Luther, one among the many heritage experts who had raised their voice against the move. While officials at the department of archaeology maintain that they are short staffed to conduct well studied conservation activities, heritage experts refuse to buy this excuse. “If it is not possible for the department to engage its own employees in major conservation and restoration projects, they should at least deploy staffers with technical knowledge to oversee the works. Leaving it to regular contactors to handle it is not the right thing to do,” said senior INTACH member Sajjad Shahid.

The claim is, however, rubbished by P Chenna Reddy, director of the department. While he admits that a chunk of heritage projects are handled by PWD, Reddy maintains that they are all overseen by his technical team of officers. “We have arrangements with PWD and they have done a lot of work for us. But then, all those assignments were supervised by in-house conservation experts,” the director said.

Experts clearly aren’t convinced and hint that most such state archeology-PWD tie ups reek of corruption. That the department, in gross violation of the rulebook, has never maintained a standard schedule of rates and specifications (cost of specific projects and other details) only strengthens the argument, they say adding how constructive criticism too is not welcomed by the archeology bosses. “It is astounding to see that the department is still caught up in the same old ways of running things. They do not appreciate people questioning their way of functioning,” rued conservation architect Vasanta Shobha Turaga who has been crying foul over this unethical ‘outsourcing’ of work for a long time.