The central government has withdrawn the nomination of Delhi for UNESCO’s World Heritage City tag. The government has taken the decision without any proper explanation and abruptly ended the long quest. The decision has shocked conservationists and heritage lovers as it came just a month before UNESCO’s review of nominations from different countries.

As Delhi is the only entry from India, the ancient country is totally out of the running at this year’s World Heritage Committee session. Cities like Kanchenjunga, Nalanda and Chandigarh were nominated this year in February and they will be reviewed only in June 2016. If India re-nominates Delhi again, it would take two to four years for the process of submitting the tentative and final dossiers.

Delhi’s tentative nomination for ‘Imperial Cities of Delhi’ was submitted to UNESCO in January 2012. The final dossier was submitted in 2014. An Expert committee from International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) visited Delhi on October 2014 to assess the nomination.

The remaining 38 nominations will be scrutinized for world heritage inscription in Bonn, Germany between June 28 and July 8.

Tidbits

• UNESCO Stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
• The headquarters of UNESCO is in Paris, France.
• As of now there are totally 195 member states in UNESCO.