Gargi Gupta admires the initiative of the conservation of Delhi’s Humayun’s tomb but wonders if too many organisations can achieve the ultimate target together.
Should conservation limit itself to just preserving historic monuments, or can it go beyond cosmetic patchwork to catalyse a regeneration, not just of the monument but of the surrounding areas as well?
The question is the principle guiding the Humayun’s Tomb-Sundar Nursery-Nizamuddin Urban Renewal project, being undertaken as a unique (at least in India) public-private partnership involving the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Central Public Works Department (CPWD), Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).
Conservation, of course, is integral to the project, but no less important will be environmental rehabilitation works with a series of community-based socio-economic development initiatives (in the areas of health and education) intended to improve the quality of life communities within the project area.
If the five-year project succeeds in this larger objective, it will be a first in India where most conservation exercises are undertaken in a piecemeal fashion.
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