UNESCO team concerned over renovation of Ganga Ghats

Varanasi, July 24 (UNI) Expressing concern over the beautification and renovation at world famous Ganga Ghats of Varanasi, a UNESCO team today cautioned that any flaws in the exercise could ultimately affect the flow of the sacred river.

Led by the UNESCO representative to Bhutan, India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka Minja Yang, the six-member team this evening met with top officials, including Divisional Commissioner Nitin Ramesh Gokarna, District Magistrate Beena Kumari Meena and Municipal Commissioner Lalji Rai.

At the meeting, which continued for more than an hour, the UNESCO experts expressed concern over the renovation and beautification work on the Ganga Ghats. ''You have to take utmost care in ensuring that any flaws in the exercise will not only increase sand deposition on the sandy eastern banks but might also create sand dunes on the western banks that houses the magnificent ghat,'' Ms Yang maintained.

''We strongly believe that renovation work should not be carried in a manner which ultimately effects the flow of the sacred river.

The administrators here need to go on with the exercise very carefully and that too under the guidance of river engineers of the country,'' Ms Yang added.

The UNESCO team also assured that its experts were willing to support and help Varanasi in proper city planning and development, besides tourism development and heritage conservation.

''The development of tourism should not only be confined to promotion of tourist destinations, but must also address the larger issue of employment generation. Tourism should be developed to fuel development,'' Ms Yang maintained.

After learning about the efforts of heritage conservation undertaken by local authorities, Ms Yang said ''heritage conservation not only includes conservation of isolated monuments, but must also encompass the conservation of traditional skills, arts and culture on a whole.'' The team also acquainted itself with the nitty gritty of city development plan and the master plan for Varanasi, besides advocating for preserving the unique street pattern that city boasts off.

''We have discussed with officials about how heritage monuments can contribute to development and the ways in which cultural and traditional knowledge can be a generator of employment in the city,'' Ms Yang, also the Director, UNESCO Office in New Delhi said.

Enumerating UNESCO's association with City Development Plan of Jaipur, its association with city planning in Bangalore, besides efforts to conserve heritage monuments in Hampi (Karnataka), Ms Yang said ''we envisage that Varanasi also becomes part of our Network of Indian Cities Living Importance.'' Divisional Commissioner Mr Gokarna hinted at including the suggestions of the UNESCO team in the heritage conservation component of Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

UNI