Women participate in a dance competition during the Rongali Bihu celebrations in front of Rang Ghar in Sivasagar on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, April 16: The Archaeological Survey of India will categorise the cracks that have developed in the Rang Ghar into permanent or temporary fissures, and repair these accordingly, in order to conserve the monument.

The monument, Asia’s oldest amphitheatre, has developed cracks allegedly because of the high-intensity seismic surveys often conducted by oil major ONGC in its vicinity.

The ASI has been facing criticism from different quarters, including the All Assam Students Union (AASU), for its failure to effectively conserve the monument.

The superintending archaeologist of the ASI (Guwahati circle), Sanjay K. Manjul, said the ASI had installed tel-tel, a small piece of glass in Rang Ghar’s structure, to find the temporary and permanent cracks.

“If tel-tel is broken in a portion of the Rang Ghar, it will imply that the crack is of a permanent nature and will widen further. If the glass is not broken, the crack is temporary and will not widen further. The ASI will only repair the permanent cracks to prevent any threat to Rang Ghar,” Manjul said.

According to Manjul, the ASI will not repair the temporary cracks, as it might harm the aesthetic beauty of the structure.

He said the archaeologists see the temporary cracks as “superficial cracks”, which are the fallout of the natural decay of an old monument.

The temporary cracks would not pose a threat to the existence of Rang Ghar, he added.

“So we should concentrate on repairing the permanent cracks instead of the temporary ones. The preservation of an old monument like Rang Ghar is a very minute and delicate job. Thus, unnecessary controversy and politics over the preservation of such monuments must be avoided. There was unnecessary public hue and cry over the temporary cracks, which cannot pose a threat to the monument,” Manjul said.

The ASI declared Rang Ghar a national monument on October 28, 2000.

It has written to the ONGC to take permission before carrying out any future seismic survey near Rang Ghar.

“The ASI has also sought healthy public participation for better preservation of Rang Ghar,” Manjul said.