Locals oppose UNESCO tag

Mumbai: Residents of Marine Drive have claimed that UNESCO guidelines do not apply to all buildings in their precincts to mark them as a world heritage site. They added that as the precincts come under earth-quake prone area, the old and dilapidated buildings should be redeveloped.

“The Marine Drive area falls under quake-prone seismic zone III. This is a cause of concern for all the residents. If the buildings are given heritage status, their redevelopment will become difficult. But we are sure that UNESCO guidelines do not apply to us. Only frontline buildings at Marine Drive and Oval Maidan are eligible for the heritage tag,” said Kawal Shahpuri, a Marine Drive resident.

“There are ten criteria laid down by the UNESCO for the selection of heritage sites. We have found that buildings on the backside and interior region do not fit into these guidelines. When not a single criteria apply to us, how can the entire Marine Drive area be marked as heritage?” he asked.

In a bid to check the feasibility of providing a heritage status, a one-member team of UNESCO had visited Marine Drive buildings a few days ago. Every year, the Centre sends a proposal to UNESCO for declaring an area as world heritage. The UN delegate had made a visit following a proposal by the state government and the Centre. However, in a meeting held on Friday, the Marine Drive residents asserted that UNESCO has got no say in declaring the backside buildings as world heritage, which are located on A, B, C and D roads.

“The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has already given its go-ahead for the redevelopment of buildings on A, B, C and D roads and their height can go up to 58 metres. Even the heritage committee has approved it. So we are okay with it. The only dispute is with the frontline buildings at Marine Drive and Oval Maidan, which can be raised only up to 32 metres,” said Mr Shahpuri.