Majuli may miss place in Heritage List

Majuli may miss place in Heritage List
From Our Spl Correspondent NEW DELHI, July 9 – Confusion marks the fate of India’s proposal to include endangered Majuli Island in World Heritage Site List, with the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee, winding up inscription of new sites yesterday. At least 19 cultural sites and eight natural sites were added this year.The 96 km long Kalka-Shimla Railway was the only proposal from India, which was included in the list, when the Committee extended the “Mountain Railways of India.” A UNESCO release said the inscription of the single track working rail link built in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla was included in the Heritage List.India submitted only two proposals, this year including the Majuli Island and Kalka-Shimla Rail. UNESCO’s World Heritage List now numbers a total of 878 sites, 679 cultural and 174 natural sites and 25 mixed in 145 countries.Officials here were not clear about the fate of the proposal on Majuli Island, as they claimed that they were yet to hear from the officials, who have gone to Quebec in Canada. They said the meeting is scheduled to continue till July 10.However, an UNESCO release issued today said that the 32nd session of the World Heritage Committee has come to an end on July 8, with inscription of 27 new cultural and natural sites.The list of 27 sites issued to the media by the UNESCO said that it was final list. This is the second time that famous Majuli Island may have failed to make it to the List. In 2006 the Majuli’s proposal was deferred Sources said that the technical Committee of the Heritage Committee had opined that the due to global warming, the Island might face submersion in the future. It had recommended that the proposal be deferred for now.Unlike in 2006, India had this time gone to Canada fully prepared armed with a new dossier. India tried to comply with all the requirements sought by the Committee. The Prime Minister himself had taken a review meeting on India’s proposal, while Assam government enacted an Act to protect the Island. source: assam tribune

World heritage tag eludes Manas sanctuary again

Guwahati, July 5: Manas National Park will continue to bear the World Heritage Site in Danger tag even after 15 years while the fate of Majuli will be decided in a couple of days.

The 32nd meeting of the World Heritage Committee under way in Quebec City, Canada, has decided to keep Manas National Park on the danger list, much to the disappointment of the Assam forest department that went into an overdrive to get back the coveted heritage status for the national park.

“The committee has decided to leave Manas on the List of World Heritage Site in Danger,” Unesco spokesman Roni Amelan said in an email to The Telegraph. The decision was taken yesterday.

The decision was taken after reviewing the report of the monitoring mission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Unesco that visited Manas early this year. “We are hoping positively that the situation will improve next year,” the park’s director, A. Swargiari said.

The wildlife sanctuary has been on Unesco’s list of World Heritage Site in Danger from 1992 onwards.

Swargiari said the process of restoration has started in a big way but it will still take some time for the steps to bear fruit and yield the desired result.

A source said the monitoring mission in its draft report had asked the park authorities to set up a full-time monitoring system that will allow monitoring and documentation of the flagship species — rhino, tiger and elephant.

The team had told them to complete infrastructure and ensure early release of funds besides consolidating conservation efforts by increasing the number of swamp deer and one-horned rhino population. It has also called for checking poaching and illegal felling of trees in the Panbari range of the national park.

The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is taking steps to improve the park’s infrastructure.
The BTC is already taking steps to improve infrastructure in the national park.
Ground conservation action commenced after the signing of an agreement between the Bodo people and the Government of India in 2003 and the subsequent formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council.

“We need to work harder and that requires a collective effort. Evidence suggests that steps have been taken. But our endeavour should be strengthen,” a park official said.
On the fate of Majuli, the committee will take a decision in the next couple of days but Dispur and Delhi are hopeful of getting the riverine island included in list of World Heritage Sites.

source: telegraph india

Kalka-Shimla railway may be included in World Heritage List

Majuli & Kalka-Shimla railway may be included in World Heritage List

21 Jun, 2008, 1001 hrs IST, PTI

NEW YORK: The Kalka-Shimla Railway and River Island of Majuli in midstream of Brahmaputra river in Assam are among 47 sites worldwide which the United Nations will consider for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

The Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will hold a 9-day meeting in Quebec in Canada from July 2 to consider the nominations which include 13 natural sites and 34 cultural sites, including two that cross national boundaries. The nominating countries include five states that have no sites inscribed on the World Heritage List: Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, San Marino, Saudi Arabia and Vanuatu. UNESCO said the committee would also scrutinize the state of conservation of 30 sites that have been placed on the List of World Heritage in danger because of problems such as pollution, pillaging, the impact of natural disasters or poorly managed mass tourism. Those sites include the cultural landscape of the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany, which may be deleted from the World Heritage List if the 21-member committee determines that the building of a bridge in the heart of the landscape warrants the move. Currently there are 851 sites of "outstanding universal value" in 141 countries that have been inscribed on the World Heritage List, and each year sites are added after applications are first reviewed by either the International Council on Monuments and Sites or the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3150989.cms