UNESCO official visits Qila Mubarak

Gagan K Teja

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 30

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Section Chief and Programme Specialist for Culture Moe Chiba accompanied by Punjab Tourism and Cultural Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu visited Patiala today to have a look at the historical Qila Mubarak, the ancestral house of the Patiala royals, and Sheesh Mahal to consider the inclusion of the 'qila' in the list of UNESCO's world heritage sites.

Despite the grandeur of the 'qila' and efforts to save the 250-year-old structure on part of the Centre and the state government, it still seems like a long way for the government to get it included in the list.

Moe Chiba and Sidhu first reached Sheesh Mahal and later visited Qila Mubarak and took stock of the renovation work that is underway. Though the team seemed quite impressed with the legacy of Patiala in general and renovation work that is going on in the 'qila', it is too premature to say that the 'qila' might be included in the list as the government still has to clear various parameters before this.

During her visit to the 'qila', Chiba said UNESCO would be judging the structure on various parameters which not only included its grandeur, but the government's will and plans to maintain the structure and also the executing agency as to whether the government had competent experts to maintain the structure.

"It is a beautiful structure indeed but we can't say anything as of now because it is not easy to make it to the list of world heritage sites. We have seen numerous palaces across the country, which are remarkable, but there is dearth of experts to maintain these structures. Moreover, even if any structure gets approved, the bigger challenge is to ensure that they continue to be in the list because we hold inspection every six years where the body concerned has to prove that they are taking corrective measures for its upkeep and restoration. If we find that the government is faltering on its commitments, UNESCO even removes the structures from the list," she informed.

Meanwhile, taking a dig at the previous SAD-BJP government, Sidhu said they had failed to utilise the money that was to be spent on heritage sites in a planned way following which the Punjab government had marked an inquiry into the funds that had been received from the Centre for the renovation of historic Qila Mubarak as the Finance Department suspects some bungling of funds by the previous SAD-BJP government.

Sidhu said a circuit of the former princely states Sangrur (capital of erstwhile Jind Princely State), Kapurthala and Nabha would be formed on the Rajasthan pattern to tap the potential of Punjab from tourism point of view. Terming the development and preservation of cultural sites as the futuristic concept, the minister said conservation of such places holding immense significance was a must to let the present as well as future generations know of our proud heritage.

Sidhu said he would strive for inclusion of Qila Mubarak and Khalsa College, Amritsar, in the list of world heritage sites.