Kathmandu, July 4
The 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Baku, Azerbaijan is likely to decide to give Kathmandu Valley one more year before inscribing it on its list of World Heritage in Danger.
During an hour-and-a-half discussion on whether the property should be inscribed on the list or not, members could not reach a consensus. While a group of committee members suggested that the inscription would benefit Nepal in rallying support for the monumental task of rebuilding structures destroyed by the earthquake, another suggested that the inscription would send a negative message to the people of Kathmandu recovering from the 2015 earthquake.
After consensus was not reached on the issue, the chair of the committee Abulfas Garayev proposed that Nepal be given one more year to make progress in the reconstruction work. He formed a working group consisting of ambassadors from China, Norway, Zimbabwe, Hungary, and Kuwait to prepare the ‘wording’ of the decision.
The cultural heritage of the Kathmandu Valley consists seven groups of monuments and buildings comprising of Kathmandu Durbar Square (Hanuman Dhoka), Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Swayambhunath, Bauddhanath, Pashupatinath Temple and Changu Narayan Temple.
Kathmandu Valley has been on the World Heritage List since 1979. However, between 2003-2007 it was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
After the 2015 quake, the property has been considered every time for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger. But the committee been electing not to inscribe. This was the point raised by Hungary, Norway and Australia during the course of the meeting.
However, China, Zimbabwe, and Brazil said that inscribing the Valley on the list of heritage in danger would send a negative message. Brazil was worried about the impact on tourism of such a listing for a country which is dependent on tourism.
The working group is expected to come with the final ‘wording’ of the decision later in the day.
