Sonar Fort (Jaisalmer Fort) conservation work will be inspected by a team from UNESCO & World Watch Monument tomorrow. After the Sonar Fort was included in UNESCO’s world heritage sites, NGO ‘I love Jaisalmer’ was made the member of a discrete level empowered committee to execute the site management plan and for this Rajasthan heritage development and management authority signed an MoU with the NGO. To save the Sonar Fort from pollution and vibration they started working on starting a golf cart run by battery instead of the existing auto rickshaws and they will also come up with auto rickshaws run by battery.
After signing the MoU, the NGO started the conservation work. NGO president Manvendra Singh said he was recently appointed the member of the discrete level empowered committee headed by the district collector. Later he started the work of implementing the conservation and management plan of the fort. Under this plan, Singh started working on the scheme of starting a golf carts and auto rickshaws run by battery. The sound of auto rickshaws causes vibrations and the smoke emitted from these vehicles change the natural colour of the fort.
Singh said hanging telephone and electricity wires too are masking the fort look bad and to put these wires underground the district administration has put few schemes in place. The disaster management in the fort is also being improved.
We will establish relationships with stakeholders, government agencies and consultants engaged with the fort and involve our self in the buffer zone conservation and development activities, added Singh. The committee also plans to periodically coordinate the project activities with different agencies associated with the work such as municipal bodies, RUIDP, archaeology & museums and town planning departments etc. Submit monthly progress reports on activities in the fort and their buffer zones through the district level committees headed by the collector, serve as member-secretary on the district level committees and prepare papers for the monthly meetings including agenda etc.
The report of the conservation works has to be submitted to UNESCO by January 2015 for which the work of the fort’s sewerage line is very important. Earlier, when the residents of the fort protested the work of sewerage line could not take place. Singh said they have started persuading the residents and their misunderstandings have been cleared and they hope the work of laying sewerage line will start soon.
Singh said that apart from this work, cleaning the fort’s mountain has been taken up and a week ago, a huge shramdan camp was organized at the fort where district police, BSF, general public along with NGO members cleaned a part of the fort.
World Watch Monument India representative Amita Beg said, “The USESCO team is coming to Jaisalmer on Sunday and will look at all the conservation work till Monday. The team will also conduct meetings with the NGO, district administration and municipal conceal chairman & commissioner.”
And on the other hand, district collector N L Meena said there is need of taking strong steps with public participation for conserving the Sonar Fort. The district collector in a state level apex advisory committee meeting held at the district collectorate directed that stray cattle roaming in the fort should be caught and sent to gaushala. He also asked the municipal council to bound cattle raisers to keep their cattle at the place assigned for it and if they do not follow it then the cattle should be sent to gaushalas.
Meena directed the Archaeological Survey of India officer to make the bylaws soon for regularization and making houses in the fort by talking to the high level officers. He also directed the police to improve the traffic system.
src: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/UNESCO-to-inspect-the-conservation-work-at-Sonar-Fort/articleshow/28972582.cms