HERITAGE SITE CONSERVATIONUnesco arm team scans DHR health

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, 8 December 2019,  Siliguri: A two-member delegation from International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an organ of Unesco, reached here on Saturday to assess the conservation efforts of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR).

The mountain railway was recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1999.

Michael Pearson and Nao Hayashi, both representing ICIMOS, reached Sukna -- the last DHR station in the plains located around 10km from here -- in a special train along with some railway officials. From there, they ascended the hills where they will look at the DHR's assets, including the stations.

"We are here to look and observe the management of the railway. After our visit, we will submit a report to Unesco," said Pearson. Their visit comes a day after the railways organised celebrations in Darjeeling to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of DHR's World Heritage status.

ICOMOS is an organisation that works for conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Headquartered in Paris, ICOMOS was founded in 1965 in Warsaw, and advises UNESCO on world heritage sites.

A source in DHR said one of the major objectives of the delegation is to visit newly renovated structures of Gayabari and Sonada, the two stations of DHR which were torched by agitators during the statehood agitation in 2017.

The Northeast Frontier Railway has recently reconstructed both stations while keeping the old heritage look intact.

Earlier this year, at the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee of Unesco that was held for 11 days from June 30 to July 10 at Baku in Azerbaijan, the WHC had expressed concern over the status and conservation of the DHR.

At the convention, the WHC has also mentioned that it has requested the Centre to invite a reactive monitoring mission to DHR from Unesco and its advisory bodies like ICOMOS.

"Pearson and Hayashi will on Sunday visit Ghoom, Sonada and Kurseong stations and reach Tindharia where the DHR workshop is located. Later, they are scheduled to visit Guwahati and will meet the general manager of NFR and some other officials," a source said