STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, 12 July
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has submitted the final dossier for Delhi’s pitch for world heritage city status to Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation which will soon approach the Archeological Survey of India for final scrutiny. The ASI will then submit it to UNESCO on February 1, 2014.
The area proposed for nomination consists of Shahjahanabad, built as the new capital of the Mughal Empire for Emperor Shahjahan in the mid-17th century (1638-1648) and New Delhi, the new British colonial capital, (1912-31) designed by Sir Edward Lutyens and built adjacent to the Mughal city. "It reflects on a grand scale the fusion of the two dominant themes of early twentieth century city," said a senior official, INTACH. The dossier in its main report and annexures highlight the novel existence, religion and culture of Delhi. "We have completed the dossier which includes the tombs, traditional residences, mosques and wild life and the exquisite spots of the city and submitted it to DTTDC which will now be further processed by ASI and possibly the culture ministry before submitting to UNESCO,” said the official. The dossier will undergo several months of scrutiny by the committee.