Examine the institutional mechanisms for underwater cultural heritage protection in India, highlighting the roles of ASI and state archaeology departments.

India's underwater cultural heritage — submerged port cities, harbour structures and shipwrecks — is protected not by a dedicated law but by a layered arrangement of central and State agencies. The third phase of the Poompuhar exploration (September 2026) illustrates both the reach and the limits of this framework.

Central mechanism: ASI and the statutory base

• The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 is the governing statute for sites of national importance and for regulating excavation [1]; it was framed for land sites and extends awkwardly to submerged remains.
• ASI's Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW), functioning since February 2001, explores submerged sites and shipwrecks, documents finds and trains archaeologist-divers [2].
• Its fieldwork spans Dwarka, Bangaram (Lakshadweep), Mahabalipuram, Elephanta and Loktak Lake, with the Indian Navy providing diving and logistical support [2].

State mechanism: departments like TNSDA

• Archaeological sites other than those of national importance fall in the Concurrent List (Entry 40), giving States a direct mandate.
• The Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (est. 1961) conducts excavations and runs site museums, including the Marine Archaeological Museum at Poompuhar [3].
• At Poompuhar (Kaveripoompattinam), TNSDA led a roughly 20-day survey with divers reaching 10 metres about 2 km offshore, using sonar and remotely operated vehicles, in partnership with the Indian Maritime University [4].

Gaps the mechanism reveals

• No standalone underwater heritage legislation; India's framework is not aligned with the UNESCO 2001 Convention, ratified by 80 States, which protects heritage submerged for at least 100 years [5].
• Thin diver-archaeologist capacity, dependence on Navy and university platforms, and narrow monsoon-bound survey windows [4].
• Central–State efforts run in parallel without a common protocol or shared national database [2][4].

Underwater heritage protection in India is thus institutionally present but statutorily thin. A dedicated legal framework, alignment with the 2001 Convention, and an ASI–State joint marine heritage mission with a shared digital repository would convert episodic surveys into sustained stewardship — securing, in the spirit of Article 49, a maritime past that anchors India's contemporary Indian Ocean identity.