Removal of civilian members from expert panel could hamper Maharashtra's fort conservation efforts

Pune: Conservation specialists have warned that Maharashtra's fort preservation initiatives could suffer setbacks following state govt's decision to terminate all civilian appointments to the Maharashtra Fort Preservation Committee . This marks the second such disruption in the last few years, with a similar occurrence in 2020.

The committee, established to monitor fort restoration projects across the state, originally included both govt officials and non-govt conservation experts. However, the panel has remained inactive since 2022, with no meetings convened during this period, non-official members of the committee told TOI.

A senior official from the state archaeology department confirmed that while govt representatives retain their positions, all civilian members have been dismissed. "This represents a routine administrative procedure for rotating committee memberships after specified intervals. The non-official panel is dissolved after a specific period by default. We are currently restructuring the panel and will soon induct fresh expertise from heritage and archaeological backgrounds. The committee still stays intact," the official said.

Sachin Joshi, an archaeological researcher from Deccan College who previously served on the committee, said external members brought specialised knowledge from organisations actively engaged in fort conservation. "They provided crucial oversight for restoration projects. Without external expert guidance, ongoing fort preservation projects may lack the specialised scrutiny necessary to ensure proper restoration standards are maintained. This gap in professional oversight could affect state's broader heritage conservation efforts as we do not know when the new members will be appointed."

In accordance with the govt resolution issued recently in this regard, the appointments of all non-official members serving on the fort conservation committee have been terminated.

Joshi said the fort conservation process was already progressing at an extremely sluggish pace. "Now, if we wish to provide recommendations regarding ongoing projects, we lack any formal channel to do so. The previous mechanism was itself inefficient, as the committee had not convened a single meeting in the past three years."

He said the committee originally established in 2015 accomplished significant work until 2020, conducting over 45 meetings during which they recommended that 80 forts across the state should receive protected status. "We also advocated for comprehensive mapping of all forts, which was implemented on a pilot basis for selected sites. However, following 2020, the committee remained non-functional for several years before being reconstituted. Even after reformation, no productive meetings took place. The current removal of civilian members will further obstruct fort conservation efforts," Joshi added.

Santosh Gundu Hasurakar, another former civilian committee member, said, "We previously had the authority to monitor conservation activities, but that oversight capacity has now been stripped away. For example, Mangad Fort — a small hilltop fortification in Mangaon taluka of Raigad district — is currently undergoing conservation work. As experts, we could have supervised this project, and I was actively doing so until recently. However, we can no longer fulfill that role and have been left without any voice in the process."