Conservators from New Delhi will jointly work with the officials of Sri Pratap Singh (SPS) Museum in Srinagar for restoring artefacts that were severely damaged during the recent flood in the Valley.
The decision was taken after a three-member central team visited the museum and assessed the damage. Over 70,000 artefacts have been damaged in the flood.
Mohammed Shafi Zahid, director (archives) of archaeology and museum department, told The Indian Express, “The visit has been very positive. The central team will jointly work with museum’s conservation efforts. They will soon finalise a plan to completely restore the artefacts by consulting experts across the country.” He also added that the central officials were “completely satisfied” in relation to local restoration efforts.
The team of experts, headed by R P Savita, director (conservation) of National Museum, visited SPS Museum after J&K Governor N N Vohra had sought help from the Centre in restoring the centuries old items.
Zahid said the experts from National Museum have concluded that “majority” of artefacts would be salvaged. “Except for papier-mâché items, which has been damaged permanently and has lost its texture, the experts have concluded that most of the artefacts can be salvaged,” he said, adding that all the items have been kept in fumigation chamber to prevent fungal growth.
The J&K government has also taken up the matter regarding restoration work with NRLC, Lucknow and Pioneer Conservation Laboratory of India.
Earlier this week, a group of conservationists in Delhi had highlighted the need to address the cultural loss due to flood. The J&K chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage in its preliminary assessment has concluded that Gilgit manuscript, precious textile works and paper-based objects were “greatly damaged”. Also, several areas of the door’s adorned with papier-mâché have also been “completely obliterated” by flood water.
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“There should be an inter-agency to look after the restoration process. At the same time, the conservation fraternity should come forward with the expertise and also train the locals about the restoration,” said Saleem Beg, INTACH, Kasmir said.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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