AAP government has urged Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma to renominate Delhi as a UNESCO World Heritage City, a year after the Centre pulled it out of the race for the coveted tag.
The decision to pull out Delhi barely a few months before its fate was to be decided at the 39th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn last year, had left heritage experts and lovers disheartened.
In a letter to Sharma dated January 20, Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra said, there has been no “formal communication” to the Delhi government, regarding last year’s withdrawal of nomination and that any endeavour in this regard should not be looked at with political considerations.
“Just before the meeting in Bonn, the nomination was either withdrawn by the government of India or deferred. There has been no formal communication to the Delhi government in this regard.
“It may be relevant to highlight that the Delhi government had spent a considerable amount of time and resources on the nomination process and proceeded with the nomination only after the Ministry of Urban development gave its consent on February 19, 2015,” Mishra wrote.
The Centre earlier last year had decided to “pull out” Delhi’s nomination as the World Heritage City, saying the prestigious tag, if granted, will put “lot of restrictions” on carrying out infrastructure works in the national Capital.Sharma, however, had said that the Centre was open to the idea of renominating the city.