KCR Seeks City's Inclusion In World Heritage Sites

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has urged the Centre to nominate Hyderabad as India's entry for inclusion into UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

In a letter written to Union Minister for Culture Dr Mahesh Sharma, the Chief Minister said that of the 32 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India, Telangana did not have a single structure.

"The Nomination Dossier for 'Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad - Golconda Fort, Qutb Shahi Tombs and Charminar' was officially submitted by the Government of India to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre Pads as India's official entry in January 2012. In October 2012, an ICOMOS Mission was sent to Hyderabad to assess the condition of the property and its management, completing its process of desk and site review.

"However, since the 2012 UNESCO World Heritage Session had deferred Rajasthan's bid for the inclusion of the hill forts of Rajasthan, the Government of India took a decision to resubmit Rajasthan's hill forts as its official entry in the 2013 UNESCO Session, keeping Hyderabad's case on hold.

"Since there are certain reports that the Nomination Dossier for Delhi as Imperial City may be withdrawn by India on account of objections raised by the Ministry of Urban Development, instead of India's chance at a World Heritage Site being missed altogether at the upcoming 2015 session of the World Heritage Committee, India could name Hyderabad as its official entry," demanded KCR.

KCR said that this would only be fair as Hyderabad was the only site ready to be taken to the World Heritage Committee, as for this site the ICOMOS evaluation had already taken place and the Nomination Dossier had already been reviewed by UNESCO.

This would not only help India avoid the scenario of losing its opportunity to gain a World Heritage Site in 2015, but would also be fair since the Hyderabad Nomination Dossier was submitted many years before New Delhi, he said.

The Chief Minister said that it would also be apt to try for the global recognition now, as Hyderabad was recently ranked as the second best among the world's "must-see" destinations by the reputed international travel journal National Geographic Traveler.

It also would give Telangana the glory of having its first UNESCO World Heritage Site, he said. (INN)