Abstract:
The world famous site of Bhimbetka lies about 45 km south east of Bhopal in Madhya
Pradesh, India and is spread with an aerial span of more than 8 km. Scholars have enumerated
more than 700 rock shelters in these clusters in the large aerial spread. Bhimbetka
reflects a long interaction between people and the landscape, as demonstrated in the quantity
and quality of its rock art and is closely associated with hunting and gathering economy as
demonstrated in the rock art and in the relicts of this tradition in the local adivasi villages
on the periphery of this site even till date. The vast area of Bhimbetka with its varied topography,
ecological settings, archaeological remains and a number of stakeholders, like the
Archaeological Survey of India, Forest Department, Revenue Department and the villagers
of the 21 villages located around the core zone were exploiting the forest resources besides
tourist pressures on the site were some of the key players in this World Heritage site. Not
only this, there are a number of authorities, having jurisdiction over the total area (including
the buffer area as per the World Heritage eligibility requirements) sometimes is the various
laws in discordance with the optimal management of the site. In view of the various different
types of resources, organizations, responsible for its maintenance, difference of perspectives
due to the emphasis on implementation of laws based on varying concerns are problems for
management of the site for posterity, for tourists and for the growth of the tourism industry.
The site of Bhimbetka with its vast geographical area, its large variety and quantity of
natural and cultural wealth evidently has a large number of management issues that has
yet to be resolved to the optimal levels of perspectives of the stake holding organizations.
The foremost issue of management is disaster risk management of the site. Of all the ranges
of risks such as forest fires, human vandalism, wood cutting, cattle grazing, vehicular
pollution, increase rate of tourists, rock weathering, the risk of forest fires is utmost concern
and hence a proper disaster risk management to overcome this risk factor is highly
essential for these rock shelters. Intentional firing to remove the evidence of illegal tree
falling in the area, burning of leaves as part of ground clearance of Mahua trees, smoking
or casual use of fire and natural forest fire are some of the major threats to these rock
shelters. This in turn results in change in bio-diversity, reduction in growth and density
of vegetation, reduction in soil nutrients and extinction of many medicinal plants. Hence
a proper management plan is required to safeguard this rich cultural heritage. The present
paper deals in detail about the various management issues and suitable measures
which can be adopted to mitigate the disaster risk management of the world heritage site.
