Opening Statement of Culture Minister at the Press Conference Following is the opening statement of Union Minister for Culture Smt Chandresh Kumari Katoch at a press conference here today. “A team led by Dr, BR Mani, Jt. DG, ASI, reached Dehradun on 29 June, 2013, exploring the possibility of visitng Sri Kedarnath temple to assess damages to the temple structure due to flash floods and boulders. The team comprised following members: Dr. BR Mani, Jt. DG, Team leader Sh. Janhwij Sharma, Director (Conservation) Sh. AK Sinha, Director (Monument) Sh. Atul Bhargava, SA, Dehradun Circle Sh. AK Gupta, Sr. CA, Agra Circle Sh. AJ Parmar, CA Gr I, Dehradun Circle Ms. Tejaswini Aphale, Conservation Consultant The team met Hon’ble CM, Government of Uttrakhand, on 29 June and apprised him about the visit to Kedarnath to assess damages to the Sri Kedarnath temple. It was suggested that the team will look at the impact of the flash flood and loose boulders on the temple and that a Preliminary Assessment Report (PAR) will be prepared to suggest measures for conservation and disaster mitigation. The team was scheduled to be airlifted with help of an Indian Air Force helicopter so that it could land directly in Kedarnath. Unfortunately, even though the ASI team, along with the members of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Geological Survey of India (GSI) and EPIL, boarded the helicopter on 30 June, the sortie did not take off due to bad weather in Kedarnath. In a meeting later same day, Chief Minister, Government of Uttrakhand requested ASI team to visit the site a few days later once the weather conditions are normal. ASI team, however, waited for another day, hoping that the weather may clear and that it would be possible to visit. However, the weather continued to be inclement and the team had no option but to return. SA, Dehradun has been requested to coordinate with the State Government and fix next date of visit to Kedarnath. Nomination of Hill Forts of Rajasthan and Great Himalayan National Park A) Nomination of Hill Forts of Rajasthan The preparation of nomination dossier was assigned to M/s Drona, a Consultant Agency headed by Ms. Sikha Jain and the consultancy was awarded by State Government of Rajasthan. The nomination dossier on this site had been appraised by International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and had been recommended by the appraising agency for inscription on the World Heritage List with some minor conditions. This proposal was discussed in detail and the conditions suggested by the appraising agency specially the one relating to inclusion of Jaigarh Fort (a private ownership) within the boundary of Amer Fort, Jaipur was agreed to be dropped and the Committee unanimously approved the inscription of Hill Forts of Rajasthan on the WHL under the Cultural Site category as a serial nomination. [The 6 Forts are: Chittaurgarh, Kumbalgarh, Ranthambore, Jaisalmer-ASI Forts and Amber & Gagron with State Government]. B) Nomination of Great Himalayan National Park This nomination dossier had been appraised by the designated agency i.e. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its recommendation was that there were some issues which still needed to be resolved, including an issue relating to notification of an area which was to link two parts of the nominated property and based on which it had been recommended that the proposal be deferred. The points raised in the appraisal report had been replied to and the position regarding notification of additional areas was also clarified, namely, that the notification had been held up only for a procedural matter on account of ongoing elections in the State of Himachal Pradesh, and therefore, our submission was that the case may be put in the Referral Category so that the points raised by the appraising authority could be taken into account and the nomination could be considered again in the next WHC meeting. There was a detailed discussion on this matter and having taken in to account the position as stated by us as well as with the support of some of the other committee members, it was decided to accept the suggestions to put the nomination in the Referral Category.”
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 12:49:04 +0000
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