NEW DELHI: Keen to acquire UNESCO World Heritage tag for the city, the tourism department of Delhi government has sent a ‘reminder’ to the union culture minister to know the status of the proposal for renewing nomination for the coveted badge.
According to senior officials, the letter seeking clarification on “certain” points, including the need of fresh dossier, was dispatched to the ministry last week as it hadn’t responded to the previous communiqué posted in September.
“The reminder is to seek clearance for resubmitting the dossier for heritage city title.
We haven’t got a reply yet so we want to check whether we require a fresh documentation? According to my knowledge, December is the deadline for submitting the application to UNESCO. If the department gets go-ahead now, we can plan preparations for sending nomination for the next year,” said an official, who is aware of the correspondence.
The government set the ball rolling for revival of the proposal in September when a delegation of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) had met deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia with a request for the same. The INTACH, which is associated with conservation and protection of historic buildings, had prepared the dossier on Delhi, which was a part of the formal application to UNESCO sent in January 2014.
The Centre had withdrawn the nomination in May 2015 without citing any reason. Another senior official, who was aware of the September meeting, said that after Sisodia had given green signal to initiate the nomination, the department wrote letters to ministries of external affairs, housing and urban affairs, and culture conveying the decision of the government. “We wanted to know what changes are required for the dossier or if it will be a new document. However, only the minister of external affairs replied and directed us to communicate with the culture ministry. Hence, the reminder was sent,” said the official.
Two cities under the title ‘Delhi’s Imperial Capital Cities’ — Shahjahanabad, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1639-48), and British colonial government’s capital, New Delhi (1911-31), were proposed for the heritage badge.