Plight of the forgotten historic sites facing the wreckers' ball

Few knew that the crumbling but still beautiful red sandstone building hidden away behind the concrete sprawl of a crowded South Delhi neighbourhood was India's oldest surviving Islamic palace.

Built in 1245, the Lal Mahal or 'Red Palace' had been left out of the guidebooks for years; only conservationists knew of its importance.

Then, on November 1, the palace was bulldozed by a private developer. Aghast conservationists complained to city authorities, but had little recourse in the law: the palace did not feature in the government's list of 'protected' buildings.

This is a grimly familiar story in India, where only a fraction of historical buildings are protected by law. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), a government body, has a list of more than 3,600 protected monuments that it is its duty to protect and conserve.

But the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), a non-governmental, non-profit organisation, says there are at least 70,000 old buildings and monuments in India that warrant government protection.

Today, millions of people are moving from the countryside into India's teeming cities, putting pressure on every available inch of land and tempting cash-hungry property developers to demolish whatever stands in their way.

A leading conservationist, O.P. Jain, says the Lal Mahal - like so many forgotten buildings in India - should have been protected. 'It's terrible that this should be allowed to happen to a building of national importance,' he says.

He points out, however, that even buildings theoretically guaranteed government protection are at risk.

Last year, India's culture and tourism ministry was forced to admit that 35 of the buildings on the ASI's list had been destroyed. Twelve had disappeared within kilometres of the ministry in Delhi, including a magnificent city gate built by the 16th century ruler Sher Shah.

A statue of John Nicholson, who led the British troops against the mutineers in 1857, and a Mughal tomb with three domes were also among the lost monuments.

A dozen more monuments in Delhi, said the ministry, had been ruined by the encroachment of developers. Legislation passed in 1992 forbids construction within 100 metres of protected buildings. But as is so often the case in India, where vested interests meet the law, it is only patchily enforced.

The survival of India's innumerable unlisted buildings, meanwhile, is a question of time.

'There are two big problems: the way protected monuments are cared for, and the fact that there are many, many buildings that simply aren't listed at all,' says the historian and writer William Dalrymple.

In the two decades that he has lived in Delhi, he has watched countless precious buildings disappear. He cites the case of Old Delhi - built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century - where 'there are hardly any of the old houses left'.

As well as the dangers posed by unscrupulous developers, many buildings and monuments in India, damaged by pollution or the ravages of time, urgently need renovation.

But it is the destruction caused by man that is most pressing.

The pace of obliteration is quickening as India's cities struggle to cope with the influx of rural immigrants.

By 2030, India's urban population is expected to have swelled from 285 million to 575 million - an increase roughly equal to the US population.

Delhi is still dotted with the remnants of its many invaders, from the Muslim sultans and emperors that ruled it for more than 500 years to the British colonialists that followed.

'Surely no city on Earth - not even Rome itself - is linked to memories of bygone dynasties so thick as here, the accumulation of so many different generations so vast,' wrote German count Hans von Koenigsmarck, in 1910.

But today, the half a million new inhabitants that relocate to the city every year are also leaving their mark.

Crumbling Mughal ruins stand forlornly in the middle of busy roundabouts, or are used as rubbish dumps and urinals, while several elegant bungalows built by the British architect Edwin Lutyens in the early 20th century are currently threatened with demolition.

'This isn't a concern limited to Delhi or India,' says ASI director general Anshu Vaish, when asked about the fate of the Lal Mahal. 'It is something that happens all over the world, where there's urbanisation and commercialisation.'

Furthermore, in this city of 15 million people, nearly half of whom live in slums without proper sanitation, it might be argued that the city authorities have more pressing priorities than conserving old buildings.

Conservationists like Mr Jain, however, say the authorities do not have to choose between preservation and development. Indeed, especially in Delhi, the government recognises how important historical monuments are for the city's global standing.

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, which the city is to host in 2010, Delhi is planning to illuminate 13 famous monuments at night.

In 2003, Humayun's Tomb, the 16th century precursor to the Taj Mahal - which attracts thousands of tourists every year - was given a US$650,000 clean-up.

Only yards away stood the Lal Mahal - built three centuries earlier, and which would have drawn foreign tourists prepared to pay high entry fees into the city's coffers if only it had been given the recognition it deserved, says Mr Jain.

He hopes that a new national list of unprotected monuments, currently being drawn up by Intach and India's state governments, will make it more difficult for developers to exploit India's inadequate conservation infrastructure.

'But we also have to educate people,' Mr Jain adds, 'tell them that India's past heritage - as well as its future - has great value.'