State's heritage tag demand finds echo in RS

Rajya Sabha member K C Ramamurthy of the Congress demanded on Thursday that the Centre send the lists of historical monuments proposed by both Karnataka and Telangana governments to the Unesco for world heritage tag.

Karnataka had made a pitch for the monuments of Deccan Sultanate in three districts — Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Bidar — which was not considered by the Centre. Instead, the government sent Telangana’s proposal of Qutb Shahi monuments for inclusion in the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation heritage site list.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Ramamurthy said Karnataka had sent a proposal to showcase the Islamic monuments to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). “Generally, the Union government sends two proposals to the Unesco, but for reasons not known, only one proposal has been sent this time,” he said.

He asked the government to consider the requests by both the state governments. “These monuments demonstrate the exemplary convergence of national and international styles of architecture and their intersections with the prevalent Hindu architecture of the period and have a great tourist attraction,” he said.

The inclusion of these monuments on world heritage list will also help in the economic development of the areas, he said.