Solution to construction around ASI monuments

Plagued with the perennial problem of unauthorised construction around heritage monuments, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is developing a software to enable people to know if their house or plot of land falls within a protected zone.

Plagued with the perennial problem of unauthorised construction around heritage monuments, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is developing a software to enable people to know if their house or plot of land falls within a protected zone.

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The ASI sent 253 show cause notices to people during the last financial year (April 2008-Mar 2009) while the number of notices sent for demolitions/removal of unauthorised construction during the same period was 86, as per ASI data.

So the agency has outsourced the job to a private company and once completed, the software would be uploaded on the ASI website.

“People would need to go to the website, put in details of their house location like khasra (plot) number and the software will throw up the detailed information,” said K N Shrivastava, Director General, ASI.

“The only thing a person will have to do is put up a final application at our office in the end,” Shrivastava told HT.