The second day of the International Conference on Asian World Heritage Cities witnessed discussions on the minutest aspects of Ahmedabad's inheritance.
At a seminar full of information on world heritage, the most-eagerly awaited segment was undoubtedly the one that discussed Ahmedabad's chances of making it as a World Heritage City. From the architecture and ethos of the 'pols' to people's participation and technical talk on conservation policies, the second day of the International Conference on Asian World Heritage Cities witnessed discussions on the minutest aspects of Ahmedabad's inheritance.
In an overview of World Heritage sites in India, Janhwij Sharma, director (conservation/World Heritage) of the ASI, elaborated on the process of listing of monuments as world heritage sites, even as Minja Yang spoke on the socio-economic benefits of World Heritage cities in domains beyond tourism.
“Heritage has repercussions in several areas beyond tourism, like in education for instance. It is, therefore, very important to understand how to take care of our urban settlements in a way that development is comfortably achieved without disturbing or damaging the natural inheritance that we've been bestowed with,” she said.
The discussion on Ahmedabad began with Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya, dean of the faculty of architecture, Cept University, calling Ahmedabad 'a land of wit and hard work'. “Whether or not we're officially anointed world heritage city, we have, in several ways, already proved our merit”, he said, to an auditorium resounding with applause.
And Debashish Nayak, advisor to the Heritage Programme of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, took the fervour one step further when he showed a one-minute film made by a group from Singapore, on the 'pols' of Ahmedabad. Nayak elaborated on various noteworthy aspects of the pols, ranging from their earthquake-resistant structure and splendid architecture to in-built 'taankas' for water and discussed initiatives ranging from board games to painting series that have led to an increased awareness of Ahmedabad's Walled City area in the last few years.
Ending with an informative panel discussion involving Cept faculty and Unesco members among others, the session on Ahmedabad's inheritance established several clear reasons why the city is clearly a strong contender in the race to being called world heritage. As architect Yatin Pandya present there pointed out, aapnu Amdavad needs to continue working on two separate fronts: on building a strong dossier for the Unesco on the one hand, and on the other, keep up the efforts at the local level, in our own homes.
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