UNESCO hopes shrines in heritage tag: Officials of the tourism department, ASI and GHMC have begun to take necessary steps to ensure that the city bags the coveted Unesco World Heritage tag for its Qutub Shahi monuments. The Agha Khan Trust is expected to carry out works at the Qutub Shahi Tombs in collaboration with the state archeology department while the officials of GHMC and ASI are implementing suggestions laid down by an ASI sub-committee which visited the heritage structures in May this year.
The Qutub Shahi monuments
The Qutub Shahi monuments of Hyderabad-the Golconda fort, Qutub Shahi Tombs and the Charminar are on the tentative world heritage sites list of Unesco's committee. The operational guidelines of the World Heritage Convention lays down ten selection criteria, in addition to emphasising on protection, management, authenticity and integrity of the sites. The convention mandates that the sites should be of outstanding universal value and fulfil at least one of the ten criteria. The website of the committee lists Hyderabad's Qutub Shahi monuments on the tentative lists and provides justification for fulfilment of four of the listed criteria.
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| Qutub Shahi Tombs Hyderabad |
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What could prove a stumbling block for the officials is the presence of religious structures at Charminar which have grown in size and prominence in recent years? Officials say that the thought of removing structures have put them in a piquant situation.
According to sources in the archeology department and ASI, officials have postponed discussions on the issue until after Ramzan. When officials of ASI sub-committee inspected the monuments, a discussion was arranged between the committee members of the religious structures and the experts. It is learnt however that the discussion did not yield anything. Letters were also sent from the ASI to the committee officials but to no avail.
A senior official in ASI on condition of anonymity admitted that it was a sensitive situation and warrants circumspection. "The 2010 amendment to the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act has made it clear that there cannot be any encroachments within 300 meters of monuments. But we cannot anticipate what the Unesco committee will make out of it. These religious structures have been here for decades now. Their existence itself is less of a worry compared to the proportion they have obtained in recent times. But in order to address this issue we need cooperation of the politicians and district officials as this is a prestigious matter," he said. The officials are hoping that the reading of the convention by the Unesco committee would allow for some leverage.
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