Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Considering the ‘unsatisfactory’ response to the proposal for creation of a state-of-the-art ‘centralised storage’ for about 1.95 lakh antiquities and other precious artefacts in possession of the National Museum, the culture ministry is likely to reissue a fresh expression of interest (EoI) to draw up project outline and conceptual design of the storage.
Senior officials, privy to the development, said that only two agencies had sent their bids, which were found to be unsatisfactory. “The response to EoI is not upto the mark. We hadn’t expected this. We are left with no option but will have to go for the fresh bidding,” said an official.
To conceptualise and prepare detailed design of the proposed facility, EoI was issued in October. The facility will be developed in Delhi-NCR. As part of the Central Vista redevelopment project, the museum is proposed to relocate to the north and south block, where only 8,000-10,000 objects will be placed for public viewing.
Hence, the government wants to set up a centralised facility, delinking it from the museum, with a customised storage system for different articles made from stone, metals, wood, terracotta and textile such as sculpture, manuscripts, and paintings.
The facility to be built on international standards similar to repositories in Germany, Hungary, and France is proposed to be built in the national capital region (NCR) or on the outskirts for which the land is yet to be identified, the officials said.
However, they added that shifting of the museum might take three-four years.
There are apprehensions about the fate of the museum building, which was inaugurated in 1960, after its shifting. However, the union and culture minister G Kishan Reddy last week informed Rajya Sabha that no decision regarding demolition of the edifice had been taken.
The ministry has envisaged a storehouse to cater to the needs of other museums and institutions, including Archeological Survey of India (ASI) for the next 100 years. The storage facility will be equipped with customised temperature, humidity, insect, ultraviolet and infrared controls with real-time parameter monitoring system.
It will also comprise a conservation laboratory including learning divisions such as digitisation unit, cataloguing centre, library and research centre. The existing National Museum building was designed according to the space and number of antiquities available at that time.
The collection has grown since then and the authority is facing acute paucity of space. Importantly, the set up is not fully disaster-proof. At present, the museum has nearly 2 lakh objects, but only 7,000 are on display, with the rest in reserve storage.
