Orissa is a collage of sculptural heritage. One can even say that it is an open-air museum. It is unfortunate that age-old structures that represent the brilliance in art and architecture that Oriyas had reached centuries back has taken a backseat in the minds of people.

I think the ‘Save Our Heritage’ campaign of The Telegraph is a laudable effort in changing this mindset. I have followed the campaign closely and even taken its help to locate temples and monuments in the state that need immediate attention. In fact, the department of culture and tourism is gearing up to take steps that will not only help preserve and maintain the heritage sites but also create awareness about the rich historical and cultural assets that Oriyas have in the form of these monuments.

We have a number of concerns that need to be addressed immediately. The department of culture will be soon getting a new director and the post of the superintendent of archaeology, Orissa State Archaeology, which has been lying vacant for a long time, will soon be occupied by a competent person chosen by the chief minister.

Then there’s the matter of the department’s finances. The state government allots our department only around Rs 25,000 for the maintenance of heritage sites, both protected and unprotected, while the finance commission provides much more. This year we have a budget of Rs 13 crore to use for the preservation of heritage sites. The chief minister has directed us to first complete the chemical or other archaeological conservation work that have been started on many monuments but are unfinished. We have also been asked to undertake the preservation and maintenance of 100 important monuments all over the state, immediately, and we have spotted them already. Though this might sound like quite a low number when we look at the over 3,000 monuments that are there in the state, it is definitely a positive step and more work can be expected in the days to come.

We have asked experts from heritage conservation bodies such as Intach to co-operate and help us get signage boards, handouts, and other articles with photographs and information on the monuments, especially protected sites. We have also joined hands with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation to organise a massive cleaning drive on the heritage sites. The Heritage Walk and other projects such as illumination plans to make the sites appear more aesthetically pleasing, are important steps. We are combining our efforts with those of the district administration to implement heritage laws. We are also trying to employ well-trained conservationists because we have a serious dearth of staff.

Hopefully, we will be able to bring about visible change in the next couple of months.

(As told to Namita Panda)