Cry for Unesco Heritage City tag grows louder

KOLKATA: A group of experts connected with their shared love for city’s heritage met at Indian Museum on Thursday to set the ball rolling towards the recognition of Kolkata as a Unesco-enlisted World Heritage City.

The colloquium of academics, heritage conservationists, architects and bureaucrats brainstormed on increasing the engagement of common citizens in the movement and identifying representative zones and mapping of Kolkata’s heritage. Currently, Ahmedabad in

Gujarat

is India’s only World Heritage city.

“Kolkata needs to be preserved in a holistic manner. The city has the potential and appeal to become a heritage city. Heightened interest in the city will also generate a lot of employment opportunities in the tourism and allied sectors,” said Kajari Biswas, director, ministry of external affairs branch secretariat in Kolkata. “The city belongs to its people and they are the biggest stakeholders in its preservation. Our objective is to engage with them instead of hurling ideas at them,” added Indian Museum director Rajesh Purohit.

To be included on Unesco’s World Heritage list, a site must be of “outstanding universal value” and meet at least one of the 10 selection criteria set by Unesco.

Experts explained how different parts of the city embody “outstanding universal value” and met one or more criteria. “Dalhousie is an ideal site to be nominated for World Heritage site,” said noted architect Manish Chakraborty. Dhriti Ray, museology professor in Calcutta University, stressed that ghats along the Hooghly offer a slice of history of a city that was once a bustling commercial hub.

State heritage commission member Partha Ranjan Das said: “The heritage core of the city is in north Kolkata which is changing rapidly due to commercialisation and migrant influence.” Shahenshah Mirza, a descendant of Wajid Ali Shah, rued rampant commercialisation and neglect by authorities was ruining the historical connection of Metiabruz.

Arinadam Mukherjee, secretary of the Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, said: “Kolkata has a great potential to become a World Heritage City with its architectural edifices and the vibrating tangible and intangible facets.”


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