Delhi on fast track for world heritage status
NEW DELHI: Delhi's dreams of becoming the country's first world heritage city are now officially in the fast track. On Thursday, heritage conservation body India National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) will submit a dossier to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to include Delhi in Unesco's tentative nomination list for a world heritage city tag. Delhi hopes to beat Ahmedabad in the race for the prestigious status.
"We have to formally apply to Unesco with the final dossier before February 1, 2012. One country can send two nominations for either world heritage city or monument. To date, India has never applied for a world heritage city tag and this year both Ahmedabad and Delhi are the contenders. We've had a pre-review meeting with ASI, which is the nodal agency appointed by Unesco for sending applications. Since there will be two contenders this time, we are hoping ASI will give a preference to Delhi over Ahmedabad,'' said Delhi Tourism MD G G Saxena. The tourism department is the coordinating agency, appointed by the Delhi government to prepare the nomination dossiers. The department roped in INTACH to execute the work. The government is funding the proposal for Delhi's world heritage city nomination dossiers.
The first nomination dossier includes an overview of Delhi's historical monuments, the master plan, urban planning, etc., and took up to six months to be prepared. "In the review meeting held with ASI two weeks ago, they asked for certain changes to be made in the dossier like including original historical names of places like Purana Qila with Dinapanah, King's Way instead of Rajpath, Queen's way instead of Janpath and Jahapanah instead of Vijay Mandal. We've made the changes and will submit the dossier to ASI,'' said an INTACH official. The final nomination dossier has to be submitted to Unesco by January end. "Thereafter, once the nomination is accepted by Unesco, a team will be delegated to visit the city in June-July 2012 after which the final list will be released by Unesco in months to follow.
The final nomination dossier is still under preparation and includes six volumes which contain intricate details on every aspect of Delhi. Officials said INTACH's databank collected over the years, heavy research conducted for several months and information collected from every place ranging from the British Council Library, Nehru Memorial Museum, National Archives, ASI, etc., has been included in this crucial document. "The first volume will focus just on the nine zones of Delhi. There will also be a statement outlining the significance of getting Delhi a world heritage city tag. The INTACH heritage listing is another crucial part of the dossier. From the 1,200 buildings in that list, which came out in 2001, we have also included present pictures of all the structures to show how development in the city coexists with heritage,'' said an official.
With three world heritage sites, Qutub Minar, Red Fort and Humayun's Tomb; 173 protected monuments and hundreds of listed heritage structures to the city's credit, conservationists have for years been pushing for Delhi's nomination for a world heritage city tag. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has also strongly supported the nomination and said the government would leave no stone unturned to help get the prestigious tag.
Delhi on fast track for world heritage status - The Times of India