UNESCO committee suspends 3 major multi-crore projects of Capitol Complex

The projects suspended include construction of martryrs’ monuments, tapestries, court rooms which are part of holistic plan of Punjab and Haryana High court, underground basement multilevel car parking project, and also a project of heating, ventilation and air conditioning ancillary structure.

In its draft decision sent by the committee to the Ministry of Culture, which has been further sent to Chandigarh Administration, the world heritage committee has said that these projects undertaken and commissioned by the administration are impacting the OUV – Overall Universal Value – of the UNESCO site and these may be suspended.

“The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has sent the communication to Ministry of Culture specifying that these projects do not qualify the heritage impact assessment and are not complying with the ICOMOS guidelines. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is the world heritage body that has its guidelines which a heritage site is to fulfill. We will see if we can send these for reconsideration of the committee,” a senior officer of the UT administration who is privy to the development said.

Elaborating the matter further, the officer added that the assessment was done according to the ICOMOS guidelines and was also sent to the Le Corbusier foundation – the nodal agency which coordinates with World heritage committee and the State parties(country). “In the chiller plant project, it was still written that certain mitigation measures can be taken while in other projects it is clearly directed that these be suspended,” the officer said.

He added that the committee will be meeting in Riyadh till September 25 and the administration is hopeful that its request would be considered.

The ICOMOS is the same body which had earlier accepted the recommendations of the expert heritage committee formed by the home ministry for Capitol Complex to be included in the list. The ICOMOS, a non-governmental organisation, was founded in 1965 after the adoption of the Charter of Venice, in order to promote the doctrine and the techniques of conservation.

It was said that for heritage conservation, it is important to retain the overall universal value of the site.
The grounds for reconsideration by the UT administration include that the plans and certain projects in Capitol Complex’s Punjab and Haryana High Court were mentioned by them in 2019-20 in the dossier.

UT officials are trying to send the case stating that they are in a fix as while project of parking is yet to be started, others are already underway. Tenders for some have already been floated.

A heritage expert told The Indian Express said that the plan should have been “toned down”, adding that had the administration “listened to various experts, it would not have violated the UNESCO guidelines and UT’s own commitment”.

Role of World Heritage Committee

The World Heritage Committee discusses the management existing world heritage sites and is also responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention which defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States. It can refuse to give financial assistance if it finds the project not complying with the guidelines.

The committee has members from across the world and meets once a year and consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected by their General Assembly. It also asks States to take action when properties are not being properly managed.

What all is in Capitol Complex

Spread in more than 100 acres in Sector 1, Capitol Complex was the prime manifestation of Chandigarh’s architecture designed by Le Corbusier, with the Sivalik Hills in the backdrop making the sight more serene and grand. The buildings at the complex include the Open Hand monument, the high court, Tower of Shadows, Geometric Hill, the legislative assembly, and the secretariat.

Crores of funds frittered away

Funds worth crores have been splurged in the name of restoration of Capital Complex which has been going on for ages. It has been almost six years that the Chandigarh Administration has been restoring the Capitol Complex.
Tenders upto Rs 26 crore were floated only for restoration. Obstructions such as hired consultant leaving the restoration work midway added to the misery.

The work of only restoration, preservation, conservation and management of Capitol Complex too had to be carried out for Rs 25.51 crore. Of this, civil component was Rs 19.85 crore while Rs 2.60 crore was to be spent on public health services. On electrical installation, Rs 3.06 crore are supposed to be spent.

The time limit for completion of this work has been kept as 12 months. However, even 2023 is about to wind up, but the work has not been completed. Also, new construction is separate making the project even more expensive.
“We also had to do some new construction and also build some court rooms, among other things, but now nothing of it seems possible,” a senior officer of the engineering wing said after the suspension by the UNESCO committee.