NEW DELHI: With coronavirus pandemic gobbling up government revenues, proposed conservation of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) protected buildings and monuments has been held in abeyance as the Ministry of Culture has decided to put restrictions on its expenditures.
The officials said a budget allocated to the national watchdog of heritage structures has been withdrawn and directions had been issued to undertake 'necessary' work. However, already approved and ongoing projects will carry on.
The offcials said that the stoppage of funds will severely affect conservation efforts being made in the national capital, in particular. A senior government official said non-availability of funds wouldn’t allow the Survey to work on any new conservation or restoration project at least for a year. "It has already been made it clear to the ASI that funds wouldn’t be available in this financial calendar. Hence, conservation is going to be severely impacted," said the official.
According to the ASI officials, several proposals about the restoration of prominent heritage sites in Delhi such as Tughalaqabad Fort, Qutub Minar, Hauz Khas and Feroze Shah Kotla capital were in the pipelines, which have been shelved indefinitely.
"The already approved projects will continue and the ASI may take up conservation of any structure, which requires immediate repair like Taj Mahal. We have already begun the restoration of damaged parts of Taj Mahal. It may take another four-five weeks to complete due to delay in transportation of stones required for the job," said the official.
The thunderstorm damaged the red sandstone railing and false ceiling at iconic Taj Mahal in May. ASI director-general V Vidyavathi was not available for the comment. Another official of ASI, associated with the restorations of monuments and ancient buildings in Delhi, said that projects in progress wouldn’t be affected with the fresh set of directions withdrawing ASI's budget.