'Leave Humayun's tomb alone'

'Don't mess with Humayun's tomb'

Global flak is following local criticism. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) has given the thumbs down to the PWD's plan to connect the Commonwealth Games Village and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium via Nizamuddin.

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The ICOMOS said the six-lane road passing by the Humayun's Tomb would affect the 'visual integrity' of the World Heritage Site.

ICOMOS president Michael Petzel wrote to Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, "The outstanding artistic quality of the Humayun's Tomb… should not be sacrificed for short-term considerations such as improvement of traffic route."

Asking the minister to find an alternative plan, Petzel said he would take the matter up with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

But the other proposal doing the rounds — constructing an underground road till Subz Burj — does not get the consent of conservationists.

Conservation architect Ratish Nanda, consultant with the Aga Khan Trust that restored the Humayun tomb gardens (in a joint venture with the Culture and Tourism Ministry) said an underground road would kill the access to the World Heritage Site.

The Ring Road, he said, was meant to take the load off central Delhi, not vice versa, and the proposed road would save just 3 km at the cost of the most valuable heritage zone in the city.

Earlier, the Delhi Urban Art Commission had rejected the PWD's proposal.