Preparatory procedure in conservation

Inventories in conservation
Guidelines for Conservation
For the present, the latest edition of INTACH’s “Guidelines for Conservation” should be followed, unless
otherwise indicated by the imperatives of this Charter. These Guidelines should be updated by conservation
architects periodically. It may also be necessary to bring out regionspecific guidelines so that conservation
practices can be sensitive to regional material and cultural attributes.

 Heritage zone
Conservation of architectural heritage sites can be undertaken in terms of the Heritage Zone concept propagated
by INTACH. In general, Heritage Zones are sensitive development areas, which are a part of larger urban
agglomeration possessing significant evidence of heritage. The Heritage Zone concept requires that the
conservation of unprotected architectural heritage and sites must be sensitively planned, but also aligned with
the imperatives of routine development process.

Urban conservation plans must be incorporated into the statutory Master Plan of cities. This necessitates
undertaking a process of dialogue and negotiation with government town planning departments as part of the
conservation strategy. Regulations to control or mediate development within the Heritage Zone, including new
construction, demolition or modification to existing buildings around historic structures or within historic
precincts can be formulated and incorporated within the “Special Area” provision of the respective Town
Planning Acts of different States.
Role of conservation architects
The role of the conservation architect is to provide expert advice for conserving the architectural heritage and
site. Conservation, however, is a multi-disciplinary activity and conservation architects must work closely with
professionals of other disciplines in order to address its diverse objectives. Depending on circumstances, the
conservation architect may either lead the project team or simply participate as a team member with specific
expertise. In any event, the role of conservation architects must be clearly defined, either by conservation
architects themselves or by the initiator of the project.

Conservation architects also have an important advocacy role to play in promoting the conservation of
unprotected architectural heritage and sites. They need to catalyse awareness both among administrators and
beneficiaries to achieve the objectives of conservation enunciated in this Charter.

Field Work

Before launching into field work, the lister should collect a reliable map of the area and its various constituents.
Survey of India maps and those available with the state department on town and country planning should prove
useful. However, at the field level, ward maps available with the municipal/ cantonment/panchayat authorities
may be of greater help. In some cities, transport network maps (such as the maps by Eicher in Delhi) may be
equally useful.
Field work requires lot of leg-work to scan the heritage properties and to record information for each property in
the prescribed format. This comprises physically inspecting the property as well as meeting local people such as
owners of the property, talking to other residents, to local ward or panchayat members, and knowledgeable
residents and representatives of institutions. By physically inspecting the property the lister can gather facts such
as physical characteristics of the property, the date of construction, style of construction, design characteristics,
etc., that are relevant for recording in the format prescribed for listing. By conducting a dialogue with the
residents, one can determine the changes to the property over time, ownership details, historic function and
activities, association with events and persons, and the role of the property in local, regional or national history.
Photography is an important component of listing. A photograph freezes the building and its setting in the time
when it is taken. In this context, old photographs, if available, can constitute a very important record in the
listing. A comparison would show the changes that have occurred over time to the building and, in particular, to
its embellishments.
Proformas for Listing of Historical Architectural Heritage Buildings and Listing of Natural Heritage Sites is at
Annexure A and B respectively.
ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY

One of the objectives of listing is to create and stimulate awareness among the public for the preservation of
built heritage. The published listings can be used in developing slide shows, power point presentations, heritage
walks, etc., to achieve this objective. Experience shows that almost two thirds of the listed properties are in the
institutional domain, mostly with government or local authorities. Such programmes can be used to make the
decision makers and stakeholders in these institutions and authorities aware of the built heritage within their
jurisdiction and the need to preserve and conserve it.

ROLE OF THE CITIZEN

Article 51A (f) of the Constitution of India describes it as a fundamental duty of every citizen ‘to value and
preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture’. Chapters can help the citizen to dis¬charge this duty and
responsibility in the following ways:

 Identifying knowledgeable and committed individuals who can help the Chapter in identifying, listing
and documenting buildings and precincts that qualify for listing
 Involving such persons in drawing up advocacy plans to create awareness about the need to protect and
conserve the listed built heritage
 Using the expertise of such persons to draw up heritage trails and walks in some important heritage
areas and motivating them to volunteer their services for such activities. School teachers could be
trained to enrich class room teaching by taking their students for such outdoor activities

https://www.jcms-journal.com/articles/10.5334/jcms.7012/

https://www.icomos.org/quebec2008/cd/toindex/77_pdf/77-1875-187.pdf

https://www.cipaheritagedocumentation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Onaka-A-Study-of-the-
Documentation-Process-for-Conservation-of-Architectural-Heritage-Sites_Illustrated-by-Examples-
from-Egyptand-Belgium.pdf