While Chandigarh may have maintained its image as the most prosperous city in the country, the coveted UNESCO heritage states still seems a distant dream for UT residents.
Due to the lackadaisical attitude of the ministry of home affairs (MHA), Punjab, Haryana and even UT administration, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee will now examine Chandigarh's nomination for inclusion in the world heritage list not earlier than July 2010. And if the MHA's indifference continues for few more months, the wait may get a bit too long to be of any worth.
After asking the UT administration at the eleventh hour to get concurrence for the nomination, the ministry of home affairs is now sitting on the dossier and it has still not been forwarded to UNESCO. This despite UNESCO suggesting to the government of India that it should at least submit the nomination early for the next year.
Minja Yang, director, UNESCO's New Delhi office, told The Times of India that the Chandigarh dossier for world heritage nomination has still not been officially submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. ''I have heard that all national authorities of the government of India have approved it but my information is that it has not yet been submitted to UNESCO,'' she said.
''The procedure is that new nominations can be submitted on September 30 of each year but not later than February 1 the next year. So since Chandigarh missed the February 1, 2008, deadline when the Le Corbusier nomination was submitted, the next deadline is February 1, 2009. I have suggested to the authorities to submit it officially to UNESCO to meet the early submission date of September 30, 2008,'' she added.
''The Le Corbusier nomination will be examined by the World Heritage Committee in July 2009 but the Chandigarh nomination will be examined only in July 2010 because the deadline of February 1, 2008 was missed,'' she added. Only countries that have signed the World Heritage Convention, pledging to protect their natural and cultural heritage, can submit nomination proposals for properties on their territory to be considered for inclusion in UNESCO's world heritage list.
Once placed on UNESCO's permanent list, Chandigarh would not only join the league of cities like Tel Aviv, Brasilia and Le Havre (France), but would also take a leap as a tourism destination.
The architectural works of Corbusier are spread out across the world including France, Switzerland, Belgium, Argentina, Germany, Japan, Tokyo, USA and Algeria, Chandigarh is unique because it's the only place where a complete plan of urban settlement was implemented as envisioned by him.
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