ISLAMABAD: The World Heritage Committee which concluded its meeting in Manama Wednesday announced that they will not be placing the iconic Mughal monuments Shalamar Gardens and Fort, both in Lahore on the list of World Heritage in Danger.
According to a report in the local media, this was confirmed by an official of Unesco from Paris. Three sites in Kenya, Pakistan and Nepal were slated to be put on the list by the 21-member committee headed by Ambassador Sheikha Haya Al-Khalifa of Bahrain. While Kenya’s Lake Turkana made to the list, it appears that the Fort and Shalamar Gardens
A Pakistan delegation, headed by permanent delegate to Unesco in Paris Ambassador Moinul Haque, defended its case. The delegation also included managing director of the Punjab Mass Transit Authority Sibtain Fazal Halim and officials from Punjab’s archaeology department as well as engineering department of the Lahore Development Authority.
The committee considered a report of the joint world heritage centre reactive monitoring mission to the Fort and Shalamar Gardens. The report felt that the ‘Orange Line Metro’ was already a reality and there was no alternative. It became clear to the mission that the provision of a metro for Lahore did not mean that it had to pass directly in front of the Shalamar Gardens. Two alternative schemes that could have provided a solution to a metro alignment were not taken forward by the provincial government, it observed.
The report added that lack of proper consideration the fact that the World Heritage Committee was not appropriately informed of details of this major infrastructure project highlighted fundamental weaknesses in the protection and planning of the property. These matters are to be addressed on an urgent basis.
The mission stressed the need to adequately manage and effectively control the encroachment and urban development in and around the two places, and the Punjab government should immediately undertake setting studies and implement procedures when proposing an enlargement of the Shalamar Gardens’ buffer zone.
In a set of recommendations, the mission asked the Punjab government to rehabilitate the land immediately to the west of the Shalamar Gardens, which comprises historical buildings, and incorporate services for the site visitors. The area’s main front side on the pedestrian GT Road should be treated accordingly, it added.
It was recommended to introduce environmental instruments in the buffer zone; implement control for height and construction regulations and remove all inappropriate structures; and install underground infrastructure.