The Centre on Monday said 24 protected monuments across the country are now untraceable because of urbanisation and encroachments. Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said that of the total, eight were centrally protected monuments, PTI reported.

Eleven of these missing structures or sites were in Uttar Pradesh, two each in Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Sharma made the statement while responding to a question in the Lok Sabha. He also opinted out that the Centre had kept funds aside to conserve protected monuments and sites under the Archaeological Survey of India.

Among those part of his list are the ruins of Copper Temple in Arunachal Pradesh, the guns of Emperor Sher Shah in Assam’s Tinsukia district, Bara Khamba Cemetery in Delhi, the ruins of fort Bamanpukur in West Bengal’s Nadia district, Asafi Imambara in Lucknow, a mosque in Sakhakheda in Maharashtra, Mahadev Temple, Chaiturgarh Fort, Dantenshwari Devi Temple in Chattisgarh, D’Eremao Cemetery in Delhi, the mosque of Sarai Alavardi Khan in Haryana and Virupaksha Temple in Hampi, Karnataka.