Under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary Tourism and Culture Sheo Shekhar Shukla, the final presentation meeting of “UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Approach†in Gwalior and Orchha of UNESCO was held at Ravindra Bhavan, New Delhi. UNESCO presented a recommendation regarding carrying out development works in the city while preserving the culture and historical heritage of Gwalior and Orchha. In the year 2021, for the first time in South Asian countries, Gwalior and Orchha were selected by UNESCO for “UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Approachâ€.
It was inaugurated by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on July 20, 2021. UNESCO has done this project for Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. Principal Secretary Shukla stressed on inclusion of UNESCO's recommendation in the master plan being prepared by Town and Country Planning of Gwalior and Orchha. Along with this, instructions were given to Gwalior and Orchha to prepare a plan for development awareness and capacity building as per the recommendations of UNESCO.
Junhi han, Chief of Culture, UNESCO, New Delhi appreciated the efforts of the Tourism Board. She agreed to work with the Madhya Pradesh government in future and for the cooperation of UNESCO in organizing capacity building programmes.
In the second phase of the program, discussions were held to prepare Gwalior's proposal for UNESCO Creative City of Music. Tourism Board's Additional Managing Director Vivek Shrotriya highlighted the efforts made before preparing the proposal. Principal Secretary Shukla in Gwalior outlined a time-bound plan and necessary efforts.
UNESCO Consultant Nishant Upadhyay made a presentation on UNESCO's final recommendation, implementation strategy and architectural guidelines for preserving the heritage and culture of Gwalior and Orchha.
In the meeting, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Satyanand, Commissioner Municipal Corporation Gwalior Kishore Kanyal, Chief Executive Officer Smart City Mission Gwalior Neetu Mathur and Joint Director (Planning) Prashant Singh Baghel, along with concerned officers of Gwalior and Orchha and others stakeholders were present. Be present online in the meetings of Commissioner Gwalior, Commissioner Sagar, Collector Gwalior and Collector Nivari.
