A high-level meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was held at the Delhi Secretariat on Wednesday over the World Heritage City status for Delhi. During the meeting, the CM wanted to know the reason for the withdrawal of the nomination of Delhi from the race to World Heritage City and said he was surprised over the decision. Also, he directed the Chief Secretary to approach External Affairs and Culture Ministers to know the way forward.
Officials from the Ministry of Culture, ASI told the CM that Delhi and Mumbai were competing for the nomination and they did their part and advocated for the nomination. The CM also said he or the Deputy Chief Minister would be happy to go and meet the Minister for External Affairs or the Minister for Culture if there was a need to get the Heritage Status for the city.
After years of preparations, the Centre has withdrawn the nomination of Delhi as the UNESCO World Heritage City, saying the prestigious tag, if granted, will put “lot of restrictions” on carrying out infrastructure works in the National capital. The decision to pull out from the race came just a month before UNESCO is to set to review the nominations for the coveted tag. Besides, Delhi, there are 38 other nominations for inclusion into the heritage list.
The Sheila Dikshit Government as well as the UPA regime had put in lot of effort to help earn Delhi the heritage tag. The Ministry of Culture had sent the initial nomination to the UNESCO in 2012 and the final “voluminous” dossier for it, prepared by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was sent in January last year. A team from the world body visited the city in October to examine the heritage sites mentioned in the dossier. The decision on the nomination was expected sometime this June.
The two areas listed in the dossier are Shahjahanabad in old Delhi which has the Mughal-era heritage and lutyens’ Bungalow Zone (lBZ) in New Delhi, part of the new imperial capital designed by Sir Edwin landseer lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker after the 1911 Delhi Durbar. Delhi Tourism Minister Jitender Tomar and Chief Secretary KK Sharma and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.