Ahmedabad boasts of 458 heritage buildings with national and historic importance. However, around 13% of the Grade-I heritage buildings are in bad shape and require immediate restoration.
Ahmedabad boasts of 458 heritage buildings with national and historic importance. However, around 13% of the Grade-I heritage buildings are in bad shape and require immediate restoration.
About 23% of these structures are in good shape. This has been revealed in a list of heritage buildings made public by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) with a view to help them restore and maintain such properties.
The civic body has decided to restore the glory of these historical monuments by drafting a heritage policy and declaring the list of such heritage properties. It expects that this move will create more awareness among people. A city of living heritage, Ahmedabad is home to 12,502 heritage properties. Out of these, 458 fall under Grade-I, meaning these buildings have some historic or national importance.
Moreover, the city has 1,222 heritage Grade-IIA buildings and 10,822 Grade-IIB buildings. These buildings have regional and local importance, possessing special architectural or aesthetical merit though of lower scale than Grade-I buildings.
AMC had conducted survey of all the heritage buildings of the city in 2000-01 on the basis of which, the grades were finalised. The civic body has made public a list of heritage buildings along with the policy for renovation of the heritage buildings. It gives an opportunity to the owners of the properties to find out under which grade their properties fall. “Though AMC had submitted the list to the Gujarat high court, it was not available to the public,” said sources in AMC.
As a result, any plan to repair buildings in the city was first sent to the heritage cell for their opinion. However, this may not be the case now. “Many people do not know whether their property falls in heritage category and if yes in which grade it falls,” said PK Vasudevan Nair, deputy general manager of AMC’s Heritage Projects. He believes that people will get to know that technical and financial assistance is also provided by the civic body for restoration of heritage properties.
AMC aims to simplify the process of repairing and maintaining heritage properties in the city. "People did not know how to apply for repair of heritage properties and what kind of repairing work is allowed on their properties," said Utpal Padia, deputy municipal commissioner of AMC's town planning department.
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