The Lok Sabha passed the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2017 to allow infrastructure projects within prohibited areas of 100 meters around protected monuments. The bill amends the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958. It introduces the definition of "public works" and empowers the central government and National Monuments Authority to approve such works in prohibited areas if they are for public purposes and do not threaten monuments. However, historians and archaeologists have expressed concerns that this will remove protections for monuments and open the door to more threats from urban development.

1. Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Sites and
Remains Act, 1958

2. AMMENDMENTS
Lok Sabha has passed The
Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Sites and
Remains (Amendment) Bill,
2017 to allow government to
take up infrastructure projects
within prohibited areas around
protected monuments.
The Bill amends the Ancient
Monuments and
Sites and Remains (AMASR)
Act, 1958.

3. Ancient Monuments and Archaeological
Sites and Remains Act, 1958
The AMASR Act provides for
preservation of ancient and
historical monuments and
archaeological sites and remains
of national importance.
It provides for the regulation of
archaeological excavations and
for protection of sculptures,
carvings and other like objects.
It was passed in 1958.
The Archaeological Survey of
India functions under the
provisions of this act.
The Act prohibits construction in
‘prohibited area’, an area of 100
meters around protected
monument.
It does not permit construction in such
prohibited areas even if it is for public
purposes, except under certain
conditions.
The central government can extend the
prohibited area beyond 100 meters.
The iconic monuments in India, Taj
Mahal, Ajanta Caves, The Great Stupa at
Sanchi and the Sun Temple of Konark,
among others are designated as “ancient
monuments of national importance” and
protected under the AMASR Act.
The Archaeological Survey of India is the
custodian of these monuments.

4. Key Features of Bill
The Bill amends provision related to
construction in ‘prohibited areas’ in the parent
bill to permit construction of public works in
‘prohibited areas’ for public purposes.
It introduces definition for ‘public works’, which
includes construction of any infrastructure that
is financed and carried out by central
government for public purposes.
The Bill empowers central government to allow
public works based on recommendation of
National Monuments Authority (NMA) on
application forwarded by relevant central
government department, that seeks to carry out
construction for public purposes in a prohibited
area.
The Bill empowers NMA to consider an impact
assessment of proposed public works in prohibited
area, including its archaeological impact, visual
and heritage impact.
NMA will make a recommendation, for construction
public works to the central government, only if it is
satisfied that there is no reasonable possibility of
moving the construction outside the prohibited

5. Analysis
Proposed
Amendment
to the
act would
remove the
security net
that exists
around our
nationally
protected
monuments.
Our protected monuments, from the Taj
Mahal to the monuments of
Mamallapuram, have a designated
prohibited area — at least a 100-m radius
— to protect them, where no new
construction is allowed.
It is similar to
the zoning
around tiger
reserves
where the
core area is
set apart for
the animals to
live in, and
where human
disturbance is
not permitted.

6.  Prohibition of new construction within prohibited
area is adversely impacting various public works and
developmental projects of the Central Government.
It will pave way for certain constructions limited
strictly to public works and projects essential to
public within the prohibited area and benefit the
public at large.
Advantages of amendments

7. Comments of Historians and archaeologists
• Historians and archaeologists have expressed concern
over amendments proposed to the Ancient Monuments
and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (1958).
• The pressures of urban development have meant that
more and more historical monuments are coming under
threat due to development activities around them.
• Rapid urbanization also threatened many sites of
historical importance, for example megalithic sites (Iron
Age burials) en route Chengalpattu from Chennai.
• Even a Neolithic site near the Murugan temple in a
hillock in Kundrathur is now missing due to urban
settlements springing up there.
• In 2013, after a CAG report raised an alarm that 92 historical
monuments had gone missing due to development activities
around them, the ASI started a ground survey to verify them,
and found that 21 had indeed become untraceable.
• Citing a Cabinet note, Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP
Shashi Tharoor informed Parliament recently that plans were
afoot to construct a railway line next to Rani ki Vaw, an
ancient step well in Patan, Gujarat, which had been
recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.
• Allowing an exception for “public works” will open a
Pandora’s Box, and it will be all but impossible for the
National Monuments Authority or the Archaeological Survey
of India to ensure that such construction do not pose a threat
to a monument.
• Public works are more often than not very large infrastructure
projects. Allowing these in the immediate vicinity of a
protected monument will defeat the very purpose of the
AMASR Act and will be a violation of Article 49 of the
Constitution.