Ahmedabad Is First Indian City To Get UNESCO Heritage Tag  

Ahmedabad: The declaration of 600-year-old Ahmedabad as a world heritage city by the UNESCO was hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

The decision was taken at UNESCO's World Heritage Committee Meeting at Krakow in Poland. The 600-year-old city has now joined the ranks of Paris, Vienna, Cairo, Brussels, Rome and Edinburgh and put India on the world heritage city map. A proposal in this regard was sent to the UNESCO in 2010 at the behest of Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat.

"It is truly an honour to stand here with the delegation of India to witness the inscription of a city with over 600 years of unbroken history. The journey began in 2010 when Prime Minister Modi proffered the dossier of Ahmedabad to UNESCO," said Ruchira Kamboj, India's ambassador and permanent representative.

Ahmedabad was in competition with New Delhi and Mumbai for the title. The walled city of Ahmedabad was founded by Ahmed Shah.

It has 26 ASI-protected structures, hundreds of 'pols' that capture the essence of community living and numerous sites associated with Mahatma Gandhi who lived here from 1915 to 1930.

PTI