Cities Should Be Vibrant With Socio-Cultural Life Centered On Art, Craft And Heritage: CM

Bhubaneswar: Along with the development of modern amenities and facilities, our cities should also be vibrant with the socio-cultural life centred on art, craft and heritage, said Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Friday.

“Our monuments and the associated cultural activities play an important role in the lives of people of Odisha and give them a special identity. It is thus necessary to create awareness on our cultural heritage, their protection and preservation from the continuous onslaught of development and its related effect,” Naveen said,inaugurating the 5^th International Biennial Conference of the Indian Heritage Cities Network, jointly organized by Indian Heritage Cities Network Foundation (IHCNF), UNESCO and Housing & Urban Development Department at Infosys Campus hereon Friday. “While developing the Smart City of Bhubaneswar we are laying equal emphasis on preservation of its cultural identity and heritage and also on promotion of tourism,” he added.

“Along with the development of modern amenities and facilities, our cities should also be vibrant with the socio-cultural life centred on art, craft and heritage. There are several cities in India and abroad where this has been done and I am hopeful that the conference will be a platform for exchange of ideas and best practices in this field,” he said. “At the same time, I also hope more cultural sites of Odisha to come under the purview of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. My government is committed to taking steps for identifying, preserving and protecting these sites through listing and documentation, preparation of tourism promotion and conservation plans and developing heritage resource management plan,” he added.

He further hoped the conference will provide an excellent platform for knowledge sharing and spreading awareness on conservation of heritage and urban sustainability.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated a students’ competition on theme “Smart strategies for maintaining the culture and identity of historic cities”. Undergraduate architecture students participated in the event and displayed their ideas on having management plan for different heritage sites. Students from Odisha displayed two beautiful plans for Dhauli near city and Chandragiri in Gajapati district.

Director and UNESCO Representative to India-Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka Shingeru Aoyagi said there would be better coordination now between IHCN and Bhubaneswar after this event.

Former director UNESCO, New Delhi, Minja Yang, who is also president and professor, Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation, KU Leuven in Belgium,  said: “The city authorities can have more heritage linked activities and exchanges with other partner cities through IHCN for knowledge-sharing and experience gathering.”

IHCNF Chairman Dr M Ramachandran gave the welcome address and Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Housing & Urban Development, G Mathivathanan, proposed the vote of thanks.

Later speaking to mediapersons, vice chairman, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), and Commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner, Krishan Kumar, said: “We have started a heritage cell in BDA with various experts to take up projects like heritage signage, no hoarding zone in Old Town, change in the skyline of the heritage district with regular enforcement, implementation of guidelines of National Monument Authority.”

The three-day conference will continue till Sunday. On Saturday, there will be a special heritage walk for the delegates and they would be taken for an experience on the Ekamra Walks Old Town Circuit.

Another major highlight of Saturday’s event would be a heritage dialogue series to provide a forum for dialogue to understand the challenges in the way of heritage issues. Local experts i.e. historians, archaeologists, planners, developers, administrators, NGOs and agencies working for conservation at local, state and national level will take part in the dialogue on how development policies and practices can be founded on the cultural heritage, value systems, knowledge systems and institutions of the people, who are the subjects or beneficiaries of the development change.

The objective of the dialogue series is to arrive at policy-level recommendations to address issues relevant to Odisha and also to raise awareness and be a platform for advocacy. There will also be a discussion on how the traditional communities would benefit from heritage through better participation and greater economic leverage.