Conservation in India

In India, the first instance of conservation was when Emperor Ashoka ordered to conserve wildlife in the 3rd century BC. Then in the 14th century AD, Firuz Shah Tughlaq ordered to protect ancient buildings. Later, during the British Rule, the “Bengal Regulation (XIX)” was passed in 1810, and the “Madras Regulation (VII)” was passed in 1817. These regulations vested the government with the power to intervene whenever the public buildings were under threat of misuse.

Then in 1863,Act XX was passed which authorised the government to “prevent injury to and preserve buildings remarkable for their antiquity or for their historical or architectural value”.

However, many historic structures were destroyed by the government (pre-independence) itself in Shahjahanabad. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was established in 1861 to initiate legal provision to protect the historical structures all over India. The “Ancient Monuments Preservation Act(VII)” was passed in 1904 which provided effective preservation and authority over the monuments, and in 1905 for the first time, 20 historic structures in Delhi were ordered to be protected.

At the time of independence, 151 buildings and complexes in Delhi were protected by the central ASI. The State Department of Archaeology was set up in 1978 in Delhi, but it lacks the power to acquire or protect buildings, and merely looks after some monuments de-notified by ASI. In 1984, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was founded to stimulate awareness for conservation of cultural heritage among the people.