UNESCO ACTIVELY CONSIDERING TO ACCORD WORLD HERITAGE STATUS TO MUMBAI CST BUILDING AND NILGIRI RAILWAY

A TWO MEMBER MISSION FROM UNESCO CONCLUDES ITS

WEEK LONG TOUR TO INDIA

UNESCO TO EXPLORE TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR DARJEELING RAILWAY

UNESCO MAY RECOGNISE DHR STEAM ENGINES ALSO AS WORLD HERITAGE

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UNESCO is actively considering a proposal of Indian Railways to accord World Heritage status to Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST) building in Maharashtra and Nilgiri Mountain Railway in Tamil Nadu. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) was accorded World Heritage status in 1999 by UNESCO. A two-member mission of experts from Paris-based UNESCO World Heritage Centre visited India this week to examine with Indian Railway authorities the state of conservation of DHR and the heritage proposals pertaining to Mumbai CST building & Nilgiri Mountain Railway. These new proposals for World Heritage inscription would be considered during next year. A coordination meeting is likely to take place next year in Paris between UNESCO and Indian Railways.

The visiting mission included Ms. Junko Taniguchi, programme specialist, Asia Pacific Region, UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Mr. Sébastien Dauge, French International expert on rehabilitation and management of Railway Stations. During their weeklong stay in India from 17^th to 25^th September 2002, the mission visited Darjeeling, Mumbai and New Delhi for an on the spot study and discussions with the railway officials.

The mission completed its tour with a significant meeting in New Delhi with Shri R.R. Jaruhar, Secretary Railway Board who is also Chairman of Apex Committee of India’s Rail Heritage. The mission expressed satisfaction with the initiatives taken by Indian Railways on heritage conservation.

In yet another interesting development, UNESCO is also considering to recognize the more than 100-year-old DHR’s steam engines as ‘World Heritage’. The visiting mission also focussed on mobilizing technical and financial resources for conservation and management of DHR’s heritage site through international frameworks. UNESCO is also exploring possibilities for raising resources for restoring some DHR stations in their pristine form. The mission also mentioned other possibilities of offering UNESCO’s cooperation and financial assistance for new programmes in areas such as education and signage.

In a related major initiative, the Indian Railways have recently approved a Capacity Building Programme in collaboration with UNESCO for sustainable management of the DHR. This will include setting up community multi-media resource centers at some DHR stations and Support Programme for Policy Documentation. This programme follows a Stakeholder workshop for DHR with UNESCO in January this year.