LAHORE: The Unesco’s World Heritage Committee has urged the Punjab government to immediately suspend any further work on the Orange Line Metro Train along the Shalamar Gardens and identify an alternative location for this section of the project

The committee in its 40th meeting in Istanbul has issued a “draft decision”, urging “the State Party to immediately suspend any further work associated with the Shalamar Gardens of the Orange Line Metro and, as a matter of utmost urgency, identify an alternative location for this specific section of the Orange Line Metro”.

The committee has deeply regretted that the Punjab government has not formally submitted a proposal for a minor boundary modification, which would include an enlarged buffer zone for the property as well as the adopted regulatory measures.

Asks govt to identify alternative location for this section

The committee expressed its serious concern about the development proposal of the Orange Line which will pass directly opposite the entrance of the Shalamar Gardens and above the remaining water tanks of the Shalamar hydraulic works.

The WHC also reminded the government to submit to the World Heritage Centre, in conformity with paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, technical details, including Heritage Impact Assessments (HIA), for all proposed projects that may have an impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property prior to their approval, for review by the Advisory Bodies.

The committee has also requested the government to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property at its earliest convenience, to discuss alternative solutions for the Orange Line with the relevant government authorities and to review the management and protection arrangements of the property.The committee has also requested the government to “submit to the World Heritage Centre, by Feb 1, 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above (committee’s decision), for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session in 2017 with a view to considering, should any ascertained or potential danger to the Outstanding Universal Value be confirmed, the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.”

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2016