It’s stupid to damage Hampi for sake of roads
It has only been a few months since the Congress took over the reins in Karnataka and already the State's foremost historical site has come under threat. Earlier this month, the 153-year-old Dadapeer Chatra, which is part of the ‘Group of Monuments at Hampi', a Unesco World Heritage site, was torn down by a callous Karnataka Public Works Department tasked with widening the four kilometre long road connecting Kondanayakanahalli and Hampi. Built in 1860 as a resting place by a local Sultan, the historical monument is not part of the mighty Vijayanagar Empire that was once anchored in Hampi but it is nevertheless part of the famous Hampi ruins that are spread over 236sq kms. The Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority is directly responsible for the protection and conservation of the ruins while the Archaeological Survey of India owns the groups of monuments. Yet, the Public Works Department reportedly did not care to get permission from either authority before demolishing the historical structure. In the aftermath of the incident, HWHAMA, which was clearly caught napping, shot off a legal notice to the PWD but unsurprisingly it has not received a response yet. Meanwhile, State Tourism Minister RV Deshpande seems to be clueless about the matter. He has pointed out that the related file never came to him for clearance. Naturally, then, he has no idea about how the ruins at Hampi are being threatened by the Government itself, even though it is these very ruins that form the centrepiece of the State's tourism plans.
And that is not all. In yet another case of official bungling at Hampi, the ASI seems to have messed up the restoration of a 15th century fort wall at the heritage site. The 500 metre high wall, which once protected the Queen's Palace, now reportedly lies buried in soil and sand and resembles a check dam. The ASI claims to have used a combination of restoration and conservation methods to protect the fort wall but that still does not explain why the structure now looks nothing like the original. The list can go on. late last year, for instance, the authorities were caught entirely off guard when so-called ‘treasure hunters' vandalised a 15 feet watch tower or galigopura on the Malayavantha hills at Hampi. The miscreants first dug around the three-storeyed structure but when they failed to access any treasure troves below, they used dynamite to damage the tower that is believed to be at least 700 years old. That vandals would even dare to take up such an operation at Hampi, despite the fact that it is a protected site, speaks volumes. As expected, there were no closed circuit television cameras at the Malayavantha hills while round-the-clock patrolling of the ruins had reportedly been discontinued for no rhyme or reason. Unfortunately, the official apathy that is evident at Hampi is also the norm at most historical sites and monuments across the country which today lie uncared for and in neglect.