Will Jaipur’s Walled City get Heritage tag this year?

Will Jaipur’s Walled city, this year, get tag of World Heritage city by UNESCO? The question is buzzing as a team of International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an associated body with UNESCO is set to visit the city in September in order to survey whether the heritage tag should be given or not.

In 2015, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had submitted a proposal to the UNESCO demanding status of Jaipur city as World Heritage City. Since then, the city has been placed in the tentative list and in the meantime, Ahmedabad bagged the tag becoming first world heritage city from India.

The ICOMOS, which is one of 3 formal advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee constituted by UNESCO, recently had communicated to the ASI requesting an inspection to the Walled City in order to scan its potential becoming a heritage city. It will be a five-day visit evaluating each aspect needed for the tag.

In a communication shot to the JMC commissioner Ravi Jain, the ASI has apprised him about the development and directed the civic agency to sort out traffic congestion problems and remove encroachments when the ISOMOS teams visits.

“State government is also requested to sensitize all the stakeholders on the proposal sent so the nominated property and buffer zone are in consonance to the document...Special care to be taken to address the traffic bottleneck and unauthorized constructions,” said Jhanvi Sharma, joint director general with ASI, in her communique.

“The JMC is ready for UNESCO team’s visit. We will show them how the civic agency worked in heritage conservation of the Walled City, effective parking management and beautification of markets and places. A team has been constituted by the JMC to address any menace, be it traffic congestion and encroachment,” said a confident JMC commissioner Ravi Jain.

City described

Similar to the city planning concept of cities like Lahore, Cairo and Tunis; Jaipur also has a unique street layout with the primary axis leading to a central place of worship flanked by shops on either side. The secondary and tertiary roads were further segregated based on its functional need. Jaipur stands out as an example of an interesting town plan that emerges from an amalgamation of ancient and contemporary urban planning principles ranging from the traditional Hindu treatise, imperial Mughal principles and western town planning.