Announcing this today, while presenting the DDA Urban Heritage Awards, the Lieutenant-Governor Vijai Kapoor said,``The need is to lay down laws as lot of empirical work has already been done in this direction.'' He also said that these laws would ensure compensation for owners.

Kapoor said that in the next few weeks the Government would put together a plan to preserve these buildings. There are nearly 1,200 such buildings in Delhi.

``At present only monuments declared protected under the central law are being preserved. There is a need for local regulations to preserve both monuments and other important buildings not covered in the list,'' he added.

The Lt. Governor also announced area-specific initiatives to preserve parts of Delhi like Mehrauli and Tughlaqabad which are rich in cultural tradition.

A committee has been set up under the chairmanship of MP and former Lt. Governor Jagmohan to suggest ways of developing the Tughlaqabad ruins into a tourist spot without detracting from its importance as a heritage site.

The committee would consist of horticulturists, archaeologists and representatives of the entertainment industry. Similar committees would be set up for other areas also, he added.

Also speaking at the occasion, the DDA vice-chairman P.K. Ghosh said that the Urban Heritage Awards were instituted in 1993 to inculcate sensitivity towards these architectural pieces and encourage efforts for their preservation. So far 18 buildings have been given these awards.

Ghosh regretted that some of these buildings had since been pulled down because of economic pressure and other reasons.

Today's function, awards were given for the years 1996 and 1997. While the theme for the year 1996 was `Havelis built before 1947', the awards for 1997 went to `Buildings before 1947 under adaptive re-use'.

The first award consisting of Rs one lakh and a plaque was given to Sushil Kumar Moda for his ancestral haveli in Chandni Chowk.

The second award consisting of Rs 50,000 and a plaque was given to C.M. Gupta for his family haveli in Bazar Sita Ram. Two commendation awards were also given for havelis at Ballimaran and village Shahbad in Mohammadpur.

While Moda's Haveli was built in 1916, Gupta's was constructed more than 100 years ago. Both families are residing in these houses.

The 1997 awards for `adaptive re-use' were given to St. Xaviers School (first prize), the office of the Chief Administrative Officer, Northern Railway (second) and Sultan Singh Building, Kashmere Gate (commendation).

While the St Xavier's building, constructed around 1900, was originally a hotel, the Northern Railway building was a part of the palace of Ali Mardan Khan, Shahjahan's senior general. The building was also used as the residence of the deputy resident of Delhi when the British first came to Delhi in 1803.