Ban on Constructions around Protected Monuments

The Minister for Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that as per the notification of 16th June, 1992, an area of 100 metres surrounding the protecting monuments has been declared as prohibited area and the area further 200 metres beyond the prohibited area as regulated area for the purposes of construction, reconstruction, repairs and renovation and mining activities.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today she said, with regard to the representations received it is pointed out that the stipulations relating to ‘prohibited’ and ‘regulated’ areas in the proximity of monuments and sites declared as of national importance, have been in vogue since 1992. However, under the provisions of the AMASR (Amendment and Validation) Act 2010, an institutional mechanism has been provided for, to deal with the applications for grant of permission to undertake repairs/renovation/re-construction or construction in the ‘prohibited’ and ‘regulated’ areas. The mechanisms include the establishment of Competent Authorities (26 such Notifications have been issued); setting up of a National Monuments Authority and formulation of heritage bye-laws based on drafts prepared in consultation with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and other notified national-level heritage bodies. As such, there is no proposal under consideration of the Government, at this stage, to further amend the provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.