After acting “too little, too late” to preserve the heritage items belonging to the City Beautiful, the UT Administration is set to mend its ways.
The UT Administration has swung into action to put into practice the recommendations proposed in the UT’s action taken report on preservation of heritage items sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Recently, MHA has sent a communiqué to the Administration asking the latter to initiate work to implement the recommendations for preservation of heritage items of Chandigarh.
Acknowledging the Administration’s recommendations on preserving the heritage items, the MHA has also asked the higher authorities to take assistance of experts of Archeology Survey of India (ASI).
The issue is now likely to be discussed in the next meeting of Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee (CHCC), constituted on the directions of MHA to preserve city’s heritage.
Since the CHCC already has the participation of representatives of ASI, the Administration is keen to take up the issue of preservation of city’s heritage items in CHCC’s next meeting.
Notably, in its report sent to the MHA, the Administration had sought the assistance of ASI to establish the genuineness of heritage items and to work for its preservation.
At present, doubts looms over the authenticity of identified heritage items as only three-member Chandigarh Heritage Inventory Committee, constituted by UT Administration were involved in the finalization of heritage inventory in 2011 and 2012.
The other recommendations in the UT’s report included setting up of a Restoration Centre, giving the status of “art heritage” to genuine heritage items, bringing in a law to save heritage among others.
A Restoration Centre for the refurbishment of heritage items was proposed to be set up at the Chandigarh College of Architecture.
The Administration had proposed to revamp the decrepit or worn-out heritage furniture to put it into use in various UT Departments in the future. Also as per the plans, unusable heritage items after restoration would be displayed in Government Museum in Chandigarh.
The UT Administration had also recommended that after identifying genuine heritage items of the city, these heritage items should be given the status of heritage formally and tagged as ‘art heritage’.
The entities including furniture, tapestry, drawings and other things, which were designed, made and used by French architect Corbusier, his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and others associated with the founding and planning of Chandigarh in the 1950s and 60s, comes under the category of heritage items.
When contacted, UT Chief Architect Sumit Kaur said, “The recommendations given by the Administration to preserve heritage items has been acknowledged by the MHA. And, the Administration is now working for the preservation of city’s heritage items.”
“The Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee constituted for the conservation of the city’s heritage will take a final call on issues related to heritage,” she added.