Booklets, map to fill info gap on heritage

How many times have you felt the need for a detailed map and information booklet about Delhi's monuments? Your wishes have been answered. Nivedita Khandekar reports.

How many times have you felt the need for a detailed map and information booklet about Delhi's monuments? Your wishes have been answered.

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'Delhi: 20 Heritage Walks' and 'Delhi Explorer: Heritage & Tourism Guide Map', two publications from Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), are aiming to fill this gap. They have been brought out just ahead of Delhi's final nomination as the World Heritage City by UNESCO.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will release the 20 heritage walk booklets on Wednesday. Dikshit had already released the Delhi Explorer map, created by the Heritage Society in collaboration with INTACH, on Saturday.

With these booklets, INTACH is looking at not just facilitating, but also empowering tourists. "This is all about making monuments more attractive to tourists," said AGK Menon, INTACH's Delhi chapter chief.

The government of India's ministry of tourism has given R250 crore for improving tourism infrastructure in the city in the 2012-17 plan period. INTACH has planned several projects, one of which includes an interpretation centre at Qutab Minar.

"Right now, most tourists stay in Delhi only for one day, or at most overnight. The all-out effort is to make Delhi a tourist destination," said an official explaining the plan to spend the R250 crore.