Eleven monuments from Uttar Pradesh are missing, as are two from Delhi and two from Haryana. Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand also have monuments on the list. According to a statement submitted by the Ministry of Culture to Parliament, up to 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments are missing.
According to the submissions made by the ministry on December 8 to the Parliamentary Standing Committee, “…it is a matter of grave concern that several monuments of national importance under the protection of Archaeological Survey of India (Ministry of Culture) have become untraceable over the years due to rapid urbanisation, (being) submerged by reservoirs (and) dams, difficulties in tracing in remote locations (and) dense forests, non-availability of their proper location, etc.” On May 18, 2022, the Committee received testimony from Culture Secretary Govind Mohan, ASI Director-General V Vidyavathi, and other top agency representatives, according to the report.
Eleven monuments from Uttar Pradesh are among those that are missing, along with two each from Delhi and Haryana. Monuments in Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were also placed on the list.
According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), 12 of these sites are drowned beneath reservoirs or dams, 14 have been lost to increasing urbanisation, and the remaining 24 monuments’ locations are yet unknown.
Following a groundbreaking physical verification effort conducted after Independence, the Comptroller and Auditor General has found 92 monuments to be “missing” in 2013.