NMA’s quantum jump in making Heritage By-Laws

What is the News?

National Monuments Authority (NMA), has made a record number of 101 Heritage By-Laws during the covid period (from 2019 onwards). These laws cover a total of 126 centrally protected monuments.

This is in comparison to five Heritage By-Laws (HBLs) covering 31 centrally protected monuments finalized in the preceding ten years. This reflects a 20 times increase in the quantum of HBLs over the last two years.

What is National Monuments Authority (NMA)?

The National Monuments Authority(NMA) was set up as per the provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites Remains (AMASR) (Amendment Validation) Act 2010.

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Culture

Functions of NMA: Several functions have been assigned to the NMA for the protection and preservation of monuments and sites through the management of the prohibited and regulated area around the centrally protected monuments.

The NMA also grant permission to applicants for conservation-related activity in the centrally prohibited and regulated areas.

What are Heritage By-Laws (HBLs)?

The government has amended the AMASR Act in 2010 to include certain newer sub-sections. One of the major amendments is the provision of Heritage Byelaws for Prohibited and Regulated Areas for each centrally protected monument/site.

The government has notified Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Framing of Heritage Bye-laws and other functions of the Competent Authority) Rules 2011. The rules provide certain parameters which shall be considered for the preparation of the Heritage Bye-laws.

The mandate has been given to the NMA for framing HBLs. The HBLs work was supposed to be finished by 2012, covering the entire gamut of more than 3600 centrally protected monuments throughout India.

Few prominent HBLs finalised by NMA include the 14th century Bishnu temple in Manipur; Jagannath Temple in Puri; Chausath Yogini, Jabalpur; Jagatgrama Ashwamedha site and Lakha Mandal group of Shiva temples in Uttarakhand.

The draft HBLs include monuments like the Taj Mahal; Qutub Minar; Dwarkadheesh Temple Dwarka; and Martand Temple, Kashmir.

Source: The post is based on the article “NMA’s quantum jump in making Heritage By-Laws” published in PIB on 24th May 2022.