PRAYAGRAJ, March 25 -- Taking note of dilapidated heritage sites and structures at various places in UP, including Jhansi, Vrindavan, Agra, Lucknow and Hastinapur, while hearing a PIL, the Allahabad high court on Monday issued notices to the ministry of culture, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), National Monument Authority (NMA), UP tourism, housing and urban affairs ministries and the UP state archaeology department. The bench comprising chief justice Arun Bhansali and justice Kshitij Shailendra passed the order in a public interest litigation petition filed by Akash Vashishtha, a heritage and culture proponent and lawyer. The court directed the departments and the ministries concerned to respond within eight weeks. The petitioner claimed that some of the most priceless heritage sites and structures, situated in various districts of Uttar Pradesh, were turning into dilapidated structures "due to the abject failure of the concerned public authorities to preserve them." According to the petitioner, around 3,500 archaeological heritage monuments and ancient sites exist across the state, which are lying completely unprotected. As per the official records, only 212 of them are purportedly claimed to be protected by the state archaeology department. The petitioner's counsel submitted that whether a heritage structure is lying abandoned or unprotected, it is to be protected under the law. Assuming even if a structure is protected but encroached upon, the encroachments are to be removed and the monument is to be protected....