The Hindu : New Delhi News : Conservationists concerned over chemical cleaning of monuments

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Conservationists concerned over chemical cleaning of monuments

Mandira Nayar

NEW DELHI: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) seems to be on a chemical cleaning spree. Having cleaned three monuments in the last few months -- Sabz Burj, Feroz Shah Tughlaq's Tomb and Isa Khan's Tomb in the Humayun's Tomb complex -- this sudden interest in making monuments spotlessly clean seems to have got conservationists across the city concerned.

Bright white and covered with scaffolding, the chemical cleaning of the monuments seems to have alarmed even the residents of Nizamuddin and Hauz Khas village.

"I saw them throwing buckets and buckets of water on Feroz Shah Tughlaq's Tomb. The labourers then started scrubbing the monument with iron-bristle brushes. It looked as if the monument was painted white. The ASI officials insisted that no harm would be done to the monument, but the building does not look the same. It has changed colour," said a concerned resident of Hauz Khas area who has taken photographs of the chemical cleaning process.

While ASI officials insist that the chemicals used are very diluted and will cause no damage to monuments, studies in other countries show that far from being helpful, chemical cleaning can severely damage historical buildings. In places like Scotland, cleaning stones of a historic building with chemicals is considered an alteration to the building.

Special permission has to be sought by a committee before chemicals are applied on a listed building or even a building that falls in the conservation area.

"Chemical cleaning is done to get rid of algae and fungus on the buildings. This growth eats away at the plaster and the idea is to clean it. Most of the chemicals used are one per cent or two per cent and we believe that they don't harm the building," said an ASI official.

However, conservationists believe that chemicals are successful in the short run only.

The historic buildings looks scrupulously clean after the cleaning, but in the long run the chemicals set off a deterioration process that causes further decay, say experts.

Isa Khan's Tomb, Feroz Shah Tughlaq's Tomb and Sabz Burj are some of the oldest buildings in Delhi and using chemicals on these monuments may make them clean, but it is too big a risk to take with heritage, argue conservationists.

"In principle, one should avoid using chemicals as it will have some impact on the mother material. There is no harm in not cleaning the monument. If the original patina is removed from the monument, then the material gets exposed to more atmospheric pollution. If you need to clean the algae then it is best to use a natural method," says senior conservationist K.T. Ravindran.

Frowning at the use of chemicals on monuments seems not restricted only to the community of conservationists outside, but has supporters within the ASI itself. Some senior officials in the organisation believe that chemicals should be used as the last resort and it is better not to use them at all on a building. Carried out by the Science Branch of the ASI that has its laboratory in Dehra Dun, these chemical cleaning "experiments" are conducted on buildings sometimes without the knowledge of even of the Delhi circle of the ASI.

Apart from exposing lack of co-ordination between these two departments, it also raises questions about the need to use chemicals in the first place.

With the Delhi circle being responsible for the maintenance and the conservation of monuments in the city, if no serious threat is being perceived by officials in this department, then it seems the Science Department is acting alone and maybe without any need.

A question that experts believe is important for the future of these monuments.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail