A two-member Unesco team is expected to visit the World Heritage City of Ahmedabad from March 18 for four days. The team will evaluate the impact of the Kalupur railway station development project, Danapith multilevel parking project, and Geeta Mandir bus terminal project on the living heritage within the buffer zone of the city’s old heritage area.An AMC official stated, “The Unesco team visits every two years. However, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, we did not receive confirmation from Unesco this time. We are waiting for it.” As for the Kalupur railway station development project, the AMC had suggested some modifications. Nevertheless, the Unesco team will evaluate the project. Moreover, the AMC is developing a heritage walk route in the old city area, and the Unesco team will visit the site. Sources reveal that the World Heritage City Trust, managed by the AMC, did not implement any concrete projects for the development of heritage buildings. Unesco designated Ahmedabad as a World Heritage City on July 8, 2017. Following this, the AMC made various announcements and allocated crores of rupees to promote the city’s World Heritage City status. But many of the projects were not implemented. Over the past nine years, the corporation has approved the renovation of about 200 heritage houses in the old city area, with work being completed on more than 100 of them. The AMC mooted a tourism management plan and a heritage conservation plan (local area plan) for the city. However, the suggested amendments to the heritage conservation plan were not finalized. Plans for cultural programmes and heritage exhibitions based on heritage themes have not been implemented. The idea of establishing a Heritage Building Centre to train artisans in heritage maintenance has not been realized either.
