On the final day of the consultation meet to learn about heritage conservation from Puducherry organised by the National Institute of Urban Affairs in partnership with INTACH, senior officials in the Union Territory bid for a place in the next phase of Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY).
Officials from Varanasi, Gaya, Mathura, Amritsar, Ajmer and Dwaraka arrived on Tuesday to learn from the experiences of heritage conservators to replicate the lessons in their cities.
The mission, though focussed on infrastructure augmentation around heritage sites, also aims at long-term sustenance of these projects through various mechanisms such as partnerships and legislations.
“Representatives from the six cities visited Puducherry after Mumbai to learn about the various areas related to heritage conservation. All the cities have got an experience and intend to pen down the initiatives they could take back to their respective cities,” said Madhurima S. Waghmare, Team Leader and Urban Planner of NIUA.
“The main learning that we found from the visit to the city is that Puducherry has been successfully conserving its heritage in a physical as well as in an intangible form, which a lot of cities in India are missing out on. The city’s example of heritage conservation with people’s participation and private owners can also be taken forward,” said Sonali Giri, Municipal Commissioner of Amritsar.
Officials from the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and the Government made presentations to team members about Puducherry’s heritage precinct and experience in the area of conservation of tangible and intangible heritage.
The city’s heritage continues to coexist within the growth pressures and transformations. It is an example for other cities to draw from Puducherry’s experience and protect, conserve and sustainably develop their heritage assets.
The idea of the presentation is done with the hope that the Ministry of Urban Development will include Puducherry in the scheme for the next phase. It can be included as cities are nominated for the project by the Government of India and it is not based on competition, Ashok Panda, co-convenor of INTACH said.
