India's growing tally of UNESCO World Heritage Sites is not matched by adequate on-ground protection mechanisms. Comment.

The inscription of Assam's Moidams in July 2024 raised India's tally to 43 UNESCO World Heritage Sites [1]. Yet 414 of 3,688 nationally protected monuments report encroachment [2]. The criticism is therefore largely valid, though the legal framework itself is not the weak link.

Recognition has expanded impressively

• India hosted the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi (2024) and secured its 43rd inscription — the first cultural site from the Northeast [4].
• The Tentative List has grown to 69 properties, signalling a deep nomination pipeline [1].
• Inscriptions yield cultural soft power and tourism revenue, making protection quality a matter of international reputation.

On-ground protection lags visibly

• Roughly one in nine centrally protected monuments faces encroachment, concentrated in urban-proximate sites where land values are high [2].
• Heritage bye-laws under Section 20E of the AMASR Act, 1958 are notified monument-by-monument and remain pending for many sites, leaving regulatory vacuums.
• Enforcement is fragmented: ASI circles issue notices and pursue eviction under the Public Premises Act, 1971, but demolition depends on municipal and state police cooperation [2].
• ASI's limited manpower and conservation budgets stretch thin across 3,688 sites.

Yet the statutory design is sound

• The 2010 Amendment created a graded shield — a 100-metre Prohibited Area and a further 200-metre Regulated Area — with the National Monuments Authority vetting construction [3].
• Protection does not require ASI to own or acquire the land, allowing rapid declaration without fiscal burden [2].

The gap, then, is one of capacity and coordination, not of law. Expediting Section 20E bye-laws, embedding heritage zoning into municipal master plans under the 74th Amendment, and enabling community stewardship can align enforcement with recognition. Sustained protection would honour Article 49's mandate and reinforce India's standing as a custodian of world heritage.