Ahmedabad: Marking nine years since Ahmedabad was inscribed as India’s first Unesco World Heritage City, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Wednesday launched a new heritage website and approved the creation of a dedicated sub-committee to fast-track Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) scrutiny for development projects in the old city areas.The decisions were taken at the 100th meeting of the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC), jointly organised by the AMC and the Ahmedabad World Heritage City Trust (AWHCT) at Riverfront House. The meeting reviewed the city’s heritage conservation efforts and outlined future strategies to strengthen the protection of Ahmedabad’s historic fabric while facilitating regulated development.The proposed HIA sub-committee will exclusively examine applications for non-heritage buildings within the World Heritage City, enabling quicker and more effective evaluation of projects that could influence the heritage precinct.Officials said the HCC was currently overseeing the conservation and maintenance of 2,692 listed heritage properties, besides 382 properties on the tentative heritage list located in the peripheral heritage zone. These structures have been classified into Grade-I, Grade-II A, Grade-II B and Grade-III categories, with conservation measures tailored to each classification.The committee also reviewed several initiatives aimed at strengthening heritage management, including Urban Design Guidelines, a design toolkit for new construction in heritage areas, and the HIA policy. Presentations were made on projects such as the Sankdi Sheri Regeneration and the AMC Central Store redevelopment at Jamalpur.Members were also briefed on the Heritage Tradable Development Rights (HTDR) scheme, under which 145 heritage properties covering 17,519 sq m have benefited so far. Discussions were also held on the standard operating procedure prepared for the restoration of traditional pol gates.During the meeting, a proposal was introduced to establish a national-level institute that would provide technical guidance, conservation expertise and maintenance support for historical and heritage structures across the country.
