Amdavadis work it out to get into the UNESCO tag race

If you set out to explore the walled city of Ahmedabad, the century old

heritage

sites and monuments will give you a slice of history. From arched doorways, old vavs, chabutaras, domed shrines to medieval gumbad, each one has a story to tell. In recent years, we have seen an effort to bring Amdavadis explore their own city through various cultural festivals. These festivals have brought music, dance and heritage meet on a common point, thereby bringing both past and present closer.

With the ongoing UNESCO tag race, Ahmedabad being one of the contenders to make it to the list is leaving no stone unturned to bring the title home. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has taken an initiative to work on massive public relations plan. “From street plays to social media films, our only motto is to bring heritage awareness among the people of the city through various mediums,” says Pravin Patel, Chairman of the Standing Committee,

AMC

. “The main focus will be on the

Pol

residents, to make them aware of maintaining the richness of the heritage properties they reside in. Also, various street plays, distribution of pamphlets and door-to-door publicity will help us move a step ahead,” he adds.

Youngsters’ attempt
It is not just the corporation that is working hard, but a lot of youngsters have volunteered to come up with novel ways of spreading awareness. A group of architecture students are in the process of coming up with a heritage awareness film. Avijit Singh who’s involved with the project explains, "We have researched the nuances of the city and have tried to incorporate as much as possible. We have also included the heritage walk and featured people who are protecting the age old monuments, residents of Pol being one among the others." Though the monuments bring in essence to the city, it is also important to montage the contemporary iconic places that would grow up to be a part of the heritage. "We also have raised the general issue of cleanliness, which would help us in being more presentable to the UNESCO team," Singh adds.

Awareness through communication
Though short films and street plays become an essential part of this race, it is important to connect and communicate with your community on daily basis. As Debashish Nayak, Director of the Centre for Heritage Management says, "There is a need of community radio now than before. It would play a vital role in bringing awareness among the people. These channels should also narrate various interesting stories that would inspire people." Also, the street artists of the city should splash their colors on the theme of heritage awareness. Street plays have also been planned around the chabutaras of the old city. "We have been informed to come up with an interesting script for a play. We are working on it and will be performing shortly. It is all on connecting with the Pol people and telling them to not replace their houses with the new forms, but restore and retain the old structure," says Prithvi Desai, a student.

Preserving the past
While lot of things are planned and will be done to bring awareness, there is something that we need to be pro-active about. As Deepak Patel, trustee of one of the non- profit organizations committed to causes of heritage conservation says, "We need to stop demolishing the 100-120 year old houses of the city. Certain Pol areas need to be declared as protected area." Also, not many Pol residents are in a position to maintain their heritage properties. The government should intervene and provide them the support to restore and maintain their places "A lot of damage has already been done to Khadia; city's epicenter of the heritage value. We need to be sensitive towards heritage conservation,” says Patel who himself resides in a 300 year old house.

It’s time for Amdavadis to take pride in the richness of their past and work towards protecting its glory.