JOIN USNone of Karnataka’s heritage sites made it to India’s shortlist for presentation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) this year. This isn’t surprising. Utter lackadaisicalness defined the attitude and approach of Karnataka government officials to the task of preparation of the nomination dossiers. Three heritage sites – Monuments of Srirangapatna Island Town, Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala (Belur and Halebid) and Monuments and Forts of Deccan Sultanate (Bidar, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi) – were included in the Unesco’s tentative list last year. This was the long list. Had they put in some effort and passion into the preparation of the nomination dossiers, the three sites, or at least one of them, would have been included in the Centre’s short list, which the latter would have forwarded to the Unesco for consideration for the heritage tag status. Unfortunately, state authorities weakened the chances of the three sites being selected for this honour. Delays, internal politics, opacity and reluctance to following rules in
the awarding of contracts marred the dossier preparation process. So lax was Karnataka’s Department of Heritage and Archaeology in its attitude, that even the Rs 3 crore allocated for dossier preparation was not used.
Securing the Unesco’s World Heritage Site label is an honour. Countries put in years of efforts to win the tag. Sadly, Karnataka’s political and bureaucratic establishment is unable to recognise the value of such honours. In 2011, when Unesco chose 39 sites in the Western Ghats for inclusion in the World Heritage list, the Karnataka government was in favour of rejecting the heritage status for 10 sites from the state. Ministers claimed that World Heritage status would undercut the government’s freedom to pursue ‘development’ projects in and around the site i.e. it would undermine their plans to dynamite mountains and forests to plunder the natural wealth of the biodiversity-rich mountain range. Our ministers’ short-sightedness almost derailed that effort to win the Western Ghats a heritage status. Thankfully, good sense eventually prevailed and the Western Ghats proudly wears its World Heritage tag today.
The monuments at Srirangapatna, Belur, Halebid, Bidar and other towns have been less fortunate. They have missed the bus to win the Unesco honour this year. The government must look into the reasons behind the Heritage and Archaeology department’s failures. An honest introspection will provide insights into why Karnataka, despite its rich heritage and culture, has failed to emerge a major tourist destination. If the state is keen to see its heritage monuments including in the Unesco’s honour list in the coming years, it must act now.