In the year 2003 around 349 heritage sites were listed in Srinagar and two decades later the number has come down to 307.
WAKING up to the alarm raised by a section of citizenry over the dilapidated condition of Srinagar’s heritage sites, the government has commissioned a survey for the necessary structural protection.
Under the Srinagar Smart City Project, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) engaged Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to carry out a survey and listing of properties including shrines, mosques, khanqahs, temples, churches, Gurdwara, tombs, bridges, ghats, cenotaphs, residential houses, etc.
These sites have been categorized and the properties have been re-listed with an aim to conserve and preserve the urban heritage landscape.
Hailed as a ‘smart move’, the survey was carried out when some civil society members are questioned the official inaction over the rundown state of many iconic heritage sites, like the crumbling condition of the Mughal wall—Kalai—in the old city.
“The idea behind the survey was to initiate a process to save the heritage in the city,” Athar Aamir-ul-Shafi Khan, SMC Commissioner, told Kashmir Observer.
Khan, who’s also the chief executive officer of Srinagar Smart City Limited, said the government is keen to develop these heritage sites.
“It was important to list and categorise these sites,” the commissioner said, “so that if the government decides to put some conservation restriction, this will become the basis of that strategy.”
The survey was carried out when the city is getting a makeover under Rs. 980 crore worth Srinagar Smart City Project. Over 39 developmental tasks have been completed so far under the project, while 34 remain a work in progress, with 64 being executed in near future.
The INTACH survey has revealed that 51 per cent of the heritage properties in the city are in bad shape.
“In year 2021, we found that 49 per cent of the properties are in good condition while 33 per cent showing signs of deterioration,” said Imran Ali, an official at INTACH.
“Three per cent properties are in advanced state of decay, while 3 per cent are in extreme dilapidation condition.”
Also, Ali said, 12 per cent of the properties, mostly residential, have been completely destroyed by 2014 floods or dismantled by owners. “But many properties under Waqf board and constructed by the Mughals are in the good state.”
Notably, there’re 16 protected properties in Srinagar—12 of them are under Archeology Survey of India, while the rest is looked after by the J&K Archeology Department.
Previously, such structural survey was carried out in the year 2003, when around 349 heritage sites were listed.
Two decades later, Srinagar has reportedly lost 42 sites, leaving only 307 sites as the subject material for the new survey.
“These sites should’ve been protected under the law which is there but hasn’t been implemented,” Saleem Beg, convener INTACH, J&K Chapter, said.
In 2010, Beg said, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a bill—“Jammu and Kashmir Heritage Conservation and Preservation Act”—with an aim to provide conservation and preservation of both tangible (any material or physical heritage like buildings, structures, artifacts, etc.) and intangible (any non-material cultural aspects like music, dance, drama, poetry) properties.
“As the law never saw the light of the day,” Beg said, “the heritage residences are being converted into commercial buildings by the owners. The government should’ve taken steps to stop it.”
But now, the SMC commissioner said, all the concerned departments are on the same page to conserve and preserve the heritage sites of Srinagar.
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