Chandigarh admin discusses inventory, preservation, legality of heritage items

The identification and inclusion of all heritage items which are yet to be listed in the detailed inventory remained at the core of the discussion on Tuesday, along with beginning the process to get patent of UT-specific designs made by Swiss-French architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.

“We have four agendas on which French delegation will assist us. First is the authenticity of the heritage furniture, then the tagging of heritage items. Third is the preservation of these items and the fourth is the legal framework for protection of heritage. We have now added two more agendas to this. There are many things which are designed by Jeanneret but were not included in the inventory, like the concrete floor lamps installed at Sukhna Lake, aluminum ventilators and many iron shutter plates. Second, we should get a patent of all the Chandigarh specific designs of Corbusier and Jeanneret under the Intellectual Property Act and Trademark Act. UT Adviser Dharam Pal agreed on this point,” a senior officer present in the meeting said. Currently, the inventory contains at least 12,793 heritage items.

A source said, “Repeated auction of Chandigarh heritage items in France and other countries and thefts of these items in Chandigarh was also discussed in the meeting. The delegation was found aware of these two matters. A member of the delegation assured that both the things are being looked at seriously. The delegation will also interact with Chandigarh police officers in this regard”.

Talking to The Indian Express at Government Museum, Sector 10, a member of the delegation, Jean-Christophe Simon, an architect and Inspector General of Historic Monuments for the French Ministry of Culture, said, “Ascertaining the authenticity of these items will be the first thing. There are many replicas of these furniture items. We are here for five days and we will not be able to visit all the heritage buildings. However, the important buildings will be visited”. The delegation inspected dozens of heritage items kept at the Government Museum.

Other delegation members includes Emmanuel Lebrun, a representative of France Ambassador to India in Delhi, Brigitte Bouvier, currently Director of the Foundation Le Corbusier in Paris, Nathalie CHANVALLON, a Judicial Police Officer from France, Maroussia Duranton, conservation scientist, Delphine Elie-Lefebvre, heritage restorer, Febrice Cotelle, a police chief at France Embassy in Delhi and others.

In the year 2016, a Committee titled ‘Heritage Items Protection Cell’ was constituted to meet the objective of protecting, conserving and preserving Chandigarh’s Heritage Furniture Items. This committee was further reconstituted in 2019. Further in March, 2020, a Heritage Items Identification & Inspection Committee (HIIIC) was formed under the Chairmanship of a Senior Architect, UT.

In 2021, the Archaeological Survey of India ASI had said that UT heritage items do not come under art treasure.
Following the intimation, members of the Heritage Protection Cell urged the Chandigarh Administration to pursue and get the heritage items notified under the Antiquity Act since they have been going for lakhs and crores in the foreign markets.

The ASI had though specified that they had apprised the matter to all custom exit channels to prevent the illicit trafficking of the Chandigarh heritage items in view of the order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs dated February 22, 2011, for prevention of architectural heritage of Chandigarh.

Once the items are notified as ‘art treasure’ the heritage items will be covered under Section 3 of the Act. And thereafter it shall not be lawful for any person, other than the Central government or any authority or agency authorised by the government, to export any art treasure.