Heritage Sites : Dirtying and Defacing Them : An Article

We are fortunate that numerous heritage places abound around us; like forts, structures, mounds, palaces, monasteries, temples, mosques, churches, shields, carvings and the like. Effort is being made, at government and personal levels, to attract more and more tourists to visit our heritage places, with several objectives in mind, such as spreading awareness about our rich past, conservation of our heritage places, development of tourist places, and so on; yet this has raised an increasing concern for the very conservation of the cherished monuments and structures. The two most widely felt problems in this realm are dirtying the places and defacing of structures.

It is an irony that in a country like ours, with a glorious tradition and heritage, people have to be made aware of the value of cleanliness; the Svachchhata Abhiyan, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a step in the right direction; it has helped in achieving better cleanliness and hygiene at the personal level; however, when it comes to public places, the situation has not improved much. People often dispose things wherever they wish to despite a dustbin lying in the vicinity. This habit gives a very bad impression especially where we want our tourists to visit. Last year, I invited a VIP from another state to visit a few heritage places in Meerut; but when he did, he did not go back with a positive impression, especially about dirtiness. He was in particular unhappy how people threw things here and there without paying an iota of thought to it. People can be sighted throwing papers, cups, plates, bowls, buds, and the like just about anywhere, and if you pointed it out, you are out for a quarrel for sure; I speak this from personal experience.

If we wished that our country should look clean and great, cleanliness is the first and foremost necessity. Without it, our surroundings would keep looking like a fish market. The scene is very deplorable on occasions where some festivals are arranged at places of heritage and pilgrimage. We have to accept the fact that all tasks cannot be accomplished by the government alone; it cannot succeed in the task of keeping the places clean without active support and contribution of the common people. It is our most sacred duty we must abide by.

Another bad habit that makes dirtiness even more alarming is that of writing and drawing on the heritage structures; there is a potent threat from sticking posters too. Wherever you may visit, right from the Red Fort in Delhi to the Tunnels at Barnawa in Meerut, you will hardly find an important structure where people have not written their names; they might have the uncanny desire of immortalizing their names, but what they are doing is erasing the importance of the place, and at the same time, bringing a bad impression on the people who happen to visit these places.

It is matter of elation that the endeavours of the INTACH have succeeded to get certain tasks accomplished which would boost tourism in the area, including launching of a tourist bus for Meerut Darshan. It would be expected of all people to pay attention to the fact that they don’t, knowingly or unknowingly, deface the structures. The people who visit our heritage places should preferably let others know about the importance of these heritage places, and while doing this, they should not forget to emphasise the conservation of these places, especially in view of keeping them clean and spotless, to make them splendid and glorious.