Srinagar, Leh on WMF list of 100 endangered sites

Srinagar, June 8: Srinagar Heritage Zone and Leh Old Town in Jammu and Kashmir have been included on the New York-based World Monuments Fund (WMF) Watch List of the 100 most endangered sites across the globe for 2008, reports received here said today.

Amber Town and Jantar Mantar in Rajasthan and Chettinad in Tamil Nadu were the other Indian sites on the list.

WMF, the foremost private and non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of endangered architectural and cultural sites around the world, released the watch list in New York on June 6.

Every two years, WMF announces the World Monuments Watch list of 100 most endangered sites to call international attention to cultural heritage sites around the world threatened by neglect, vandalism, armed conflict, challenges or natural disaster.

Inclusion on the list would promote the site locally and internationally and help in its protection.

On Srinagar Heritage Zone, WMF said ongoing conflict in the region continued to pose a threat to the city and its inhabitants.

The efforts to protect the historic areas of Srinagar were part of a new emphasis in the region on heritage tourism and the local arts and crafts industry, which formed the backbone of Jammu and Kashmir's economy, it added.

''Watch Listing may lend timely support to these efforts and help increase public awareness of this important historic city.'' Founded between the Jhelum River and Dal Lake in the mid-third century BC, the city of Srinagar reached its apogee in the 15th and 16th centuries, according to WMF.

The city's most famous monuments, including Shalimar and Nishat Gardens, were built after Mughal Emperor Akbar captured the province of Kashmir in the 16th century. During the 18th and 19th century British occupation of Srinagar, colonial-style colleges, hospitals, and courts were constructed, it added.

''In downtown area of the city are less well-known residences, mosques, temples, hammams, and bazaars constructed in the local vernacular of timber and masonry architecture. Together, these buildings represent an unusually intact pre-modern urban environment,'' WMF said.
WMF said demand for land in historic areas of Srinagar was raising the commercial value of many residential buildings, which were being sold, demolished, and converted into modern dwellings or shopping malls. ''Unplanned and unregulated development schemes and a lack of basic amenities make Srinagar perhaps the most threatened yet valuable site in India,'' it added.

WMF said several hundred buildings in downtown Srinagar have been identified for protection as part of a cultural resource mapping project, carried out by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH-Jammu and Kashmir).

WMF said the Old Town of Leh, capital of the once-independent Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, presented a rare example of an intact historic Tibeto-Himalayan urban settlement.

''Due to the region's formidable terrain and tradition of nomadic life, few urban centres (outside of fortified monasteries) ever existed in this area, and almost none survive today,'' it added.

Leh's first buildings - fortification walls, temples, and a royal residence - were built in the early 15th century. In the centuries that followed, many other important structures were erected there, WMF said.

''When the Indian government began building the first navigable roads through the region in 1960s, many of Leh's Old Town gates and walls were demolished, some as recently as 1980s. Nonetheless, Leh has managed to retain much of its historic character, comparable in scale and design to pre-1950 Lhasa, Tibet,'' it added.

A 2004 survey by the Tibet Heritage Fund revealed that 55 per cent of 189 historic or traditional buildings in the Old Town of Leh were in poor condition, requiring maintenance or repair for these to survive another decade. Seismic activity coupled with the impacts of climate change, including increased heavy rainfalls in recent years, have accelerated the deterioration of traditional buildings throughout Ladakh, WMF said.

Melting glaciers in the Himalayas were also likely to cause problems for this region in the coming years, including glacial lake flooding and run-off as well as soil erosion. Measures must be taken to protect land marked buildings, improve civic infrastructure and develop guidelines for sustainable development in the historic city.

WMF hoped that Watch listing will significantly increase the profile of Leh and help to draw attention to the rich cultural heritage of Ladakh that is at risk.

WMF said the primary threats for Amber Town were uncontrolled tourism and development pressures, for Jantar Mantar, Jaipur these were exposure to elements and vandalism, looting, demolitions and neglect for Chettinad in Chennai. The other sites on the watch list from the Indian neighbourhood were Sonargaon-Panam City in Bangladesh, Shikarpoor Historic City Center in Pakistan, Kandy Scared City in Sri Lanka, and Murad Khane, Tepe Narenj and Buddhist remains of Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

WMF said the primary threats for Sonargaon-Panam City were neglect, deterioration, flooding and climatic changes, for Shikarpoor these were looting, vandalism, economic and development pressures, armed conflict, development pressures, lack of resources, exposure to elements and erosion for the sites in Afghanistan.

Since 1965, WMF has worked tirelessly to stem the loss of historic structures at more than 450 sites in over 80 countries.

Through watch, WMF encourages community support and highlights the need for technical and financial resources to assist in the rescue of endangered sites. Since the launch of the Watch in 1996, more than 75 per cent of the sites have been saved or were well on their way due to timely intervention.

WMF's work spans a wide range of sites, including the vast temple complexes at Angkor, Cambodia, the historic center of Mexico City, Nicholas Hawksmoor's London masterpiece, St George's, Bloomsbury, the iconic modernist A Conger Goodyear house, Old Westbury, New York and the extraordinary 18th-century Qianlong Garden complex in Beijing's Forbidden City.

From its headquarters in New York City, and offices and affiliates in Paris, London, Madrid, and Lisbon, WMF works with local partners and communities to identify and save important heritage through innovative programs of project planning, fieldwork, advocacy, grant-making, education and on-site training.

An independent panel of experts selects the panel from nominations submitted by preservation professionals, NGOs, governments. Sites of all types - from ancient to modern - are eligible, and monuments can be archaeological sites, residential, civic, commercial, military, or religious architecture, cultural landscapes and townscapes.

UNI