Rlys seeks UNESCO heritage site status for Kalka Rail

Taking no chances this time, the Railways appears to have quietly bypassed the Culture Ministry in forwarding KSR’s case to UNESCO. Officials from UNESCO told The Indian Express that the latest submission to UNESCO regarding KSR has been made by the Railway Ministry, and not the Culture Ministry, which is the designated nodal agency to nominate India’s entry.

“A submission has been made by the Railways Ministry. And since the application has all the required elements, UNESCO is sending a mission to evaluate the KSR site,” said UNESCO’s Programme Specialist for Culture in India Nicole Bolomey. A team led by Dr Robert Lee from the University of Western Sydney is scheduled to visit KSR from September 11 and evaluate the cultural significance of the 104-year old, 96.60-km long KSR.

Asked if the submission could pose a hindrance in future, Bolomey said: “The documentation submitted by the Railways has been found to be in order. UNESCO cannot reject a submission just because it has not come from the nodal agency.” Bolomey added that if at all there was an issue, it was for the two ministries to sort out.

Sources in Culture Ministry, however, said that the forthcoming visit by UNESCO officials is happening because KSR is already on UNESCO’s tentative list. “The Culture Ministry is yet to finalise India’s nomination for the year,” a source said.

However, KSR’s chances of making it to the World Heritage list have got a fillip with UNESCO deciding to allow countries to nominate either two cultural or two natural sites or one cultural and one natural site each from now on.