'UNESCO tag would have helped keep heritage encroachment-free'

Earning the coveted UNESCO tag would not only have ramped up revenues through enhanced tourism but also helped in keeping monuments and heritage buildings in Delhi free of encroachment, say experts.
"I think we have lost a great opportunity. The world heritage tag would have propped the city right on the global map, increased footfall and thus led to an increase in revenues.
"But, it also would have lent a strong platform for safeguarding of our heritage from encroachment," says Member of Heritage Committee (joint) of the three municipal corporations, Vartika Sharma.
Sharma, who has been associated with the nomination process, right from its conception days, felt "disappointed and disheartened", when she learnt that Delhi was no longer in the race for the prestigious recognition.

The Centre has decided to pull back the UNESCO nomination, saying the tag would have put a "lot of restrictions" on carrying out infrastructure work in the national capital.
All civic and urban bodies -- the North, South and East municipal corporations (erstwhile unified MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) -- and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) held marathon meetings since 2008 to define the ultimate content and form of the nomination.

INTACH Delhi Convener A G K Menon says, "Our policy-makers apparently believe that heritage is anti-development."
"But I ask, have Rome, Paris and Edinburgh become less prosperous after becoming heritage cities. Has the development stopped in those places? This decision to remove it from the reckoning at the last moment is an anomaly," he told PTI.

Besides it wasn't as if "we are asking the whole Delhi to be preserved", he adds.
"The nominated zones constitute 1.5 per cent of this historic city and UNESCO tag does not become a burden or an impediment, but a wealth generator, only if they could see," he says.
According to South Delhi Mayor Subhash Arya, Delhi winning the heritage status would have meant "more power in our hands to enforce conservation, preservation and anti-encroachment laws for heritage".
"I agree there are many heritage buildings and spaces in south Delhi, like Chirag Delhi, Mehrauli, Badarpur among others, which have been encroached upon. Not that we don't have laws in place to tackle them but this tag would have meant pressure exerted internationally," he says.

The Mayor, however, says, he was not in a position to pass a judgement on the Centre's decision, "but a heritage tag would not have hurt us".