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Chandigarh:
Heritage items dumped in dusty cobwebbed heaps in government
offices in this union territory are now being carefully cleaned,
numbered and restored. The reason: the administration wants to
prevent their smuggling as the artefacts are fetching thousands of
dollars at auctions abroad.
Senior administration officials say an inventory is being made to
ensure that the items linked to the city's heritage since it was
founded in the early 1950s are not lost again.
"We have identified various heritage items at different places in
Chandigarh and they will be preserved appropriately," Chandigarh's
home-cum-tourism secretary Ram Niwas told IANS.
"A proper inventory will help us keep a tab on the artefacts and
also help us stop any kind of smuggling of these items out of the
city and the country," he added.
Reports in the last four-five years revealed that auction houses
in European countries and in the US were selling heritage items
from Chandigarh, especially those linked to its French
founder-architect Le Corbusier and his team.
The administration became concerned about the city's heritage
finding its way illegally to these auctions.
"As far as possible, we will try to conserve the heritage items at
the same places where we found them. But we will take the decision
on their security depending on the circumstances and on the basis
of experts' guidance," Niwas said.
Scores of items like furniture, tapestry, drawings and other
things, designed, made and used by Corbusier, his cousin Pierre
Jeanneret and others associated with the founding and planning of
Chandigarh, have been sold off in auction houses in Britain, the
US and other countries in recent years.
A dining table sold off as junk by Panjab University fetched
nearly $12,000 at an auction in Chicago, US, in April.
Even manhole covers in Chandigarh, having the sectoral map of the
city on them, have been stolen in recent years and sold off in
auction houses abroad. One manhole cover fetched $21,600 at an
auction in 2007.
These manhole covers were designed by the founder-architects. An
inventory on the remaining heritage manhole covers has also been
made.
The union ministry of home affairs had recently directed the
administration to preserve items related to Corbusier and his team
and take pro-active steps to safeguard such articles.
Following this, the home secretary directed all heads of
departments to ensure the preservation of heritage furniture,
sketches and drawings, tapestry and other items linked to the
city's founder-architect and his team.
Niwas said a three-member Chandigarh Heritage Inventory Committee,
led by Chandigarh College of Architecture principal Pradeep Bhagat
has identified enough heritage stock from 21 departments during
its inventory. The inventory was done in government libraries,
offices, educational institutions, Punjab and Haryana assembly
complex and other institutions.
"Most of the departments have prepared the inventory of items
except for Panjab University, PGI (Post-graduate institute of
medical education and research), PEC (Punjab Engineering College)
and the Punjab and Haryana High Court," the official said.
"The inventory committee has been asked to complete the work for
the remaining departments and submit a report," he added.
The expert committee also highlighted the unique items noticed by
it during its visit to government departments in recent months.
These include a V-shaped wooden rack in the Central State Library
in Sector 17.
(Jaideep Sarin
can be contacted at jaideep.s@ians.in)
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