An increased number of protected buildings and a precedence of other Indian cities getting the World Heritage City tag are two of the reasons that INTACH has cited while pushing for the coveted ‘Heritage City’ tag for Delhi.
The move comes after the central government withdrew Delhi’s nomination for the tag in 2015 amid concerns that the title might affect the infrastructure development of the city.
“One of the main issues back then was that it had not happened before that a part of the city was being nominated. So, there were some reservations about it. Now, however, we have seen three other such nominations,” said Swapna Liddle, convener of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), while referring to Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Mumbai. “Earlier the objection arose out of a lack of knowledge of what implications this might have. That has changed now,” she said.
While Ahmedabad and Jaipur were accorded the badge for the World Heritage City in 2017 and 2019, Mumbai’s cluster of Victorian and Art Deco buildings in the Fort precinct and Marine Drive were declared Unesco World Heritage sites in 2018.
“We have more listed buildings now since 2015. In the past two years, over 600 additional buildings have come under the category of protected buildings. Most of these are old havelis, major residential and public buildings in old Delhi,” said Ajay Kumar, director of projects at INTACH Delhi Chapter.
{{/usCountry}}“We have more listed buildings now since 2015. In the past two years, over 600 additional buildings have come under the category of protected buildings. Most of these are old havelis, major residential and public buildings in old Delhi,” said Ajay Kumar, director of projects at INTACH Delhi Chapter.
{{/usCountry}}“Additionally, there is a lot of work happening towards protection of heritage in Delhi. The Shahjahanabad area, for instance, is being revamped. INTACH keeps pushing for this,” said Liddle.
On Wednesday, Liddle, along with with Annabel Lopez, consultant of INTACH, met chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to discuss Delhi’s nomination to Unesco’s list of World Heritage Cities. An official of the Delhi government said a proposal would be sent to the Centre as soon as it is finalised, recommending to start the process for sending the nomination.
The World Heritage City tag is likely to boost tourism in the capital. In 2014, Shahjahanabad and New Delhi (the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone) were the two precincts included in Delhi’s proposal
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.
Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.