Will Ahmedabad’s Walled City Lose its World Heritage City Status?

“Yes, there is a fear that Ahmedabad will lose its World Heritage City status,” says conservation architect and social entrepreneur Debashish Nayak while he sips coffee and talks about how the ‘Walled City’ in Old Ahmedabad gained the UNESCO World Heritage City title last year. In fact, Ahmedabad was the first city in India to be bestowed with the ‘World Heritage City’ status by the world body, beating other Indian cities such as Delhi, Jaipur and Varanasi in the nomination process.

But a year later, things seem bleak in the walled city, as it stands at risk of losing its coveted status. The culprits? Illegal construction, encroachments, hoardings and the persistent problem of hawkers. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) face an uphill task clearing commercial and residential encroachments. According to one news report, the ASI is filing one FIR a week and notices are being issued to residents and business men in the old city to follow guidelines. Yet, these efforts aren’t bearing fruit.

What Went Wrong?

The walled city is called a living heritage. It is spread across 5.5 square kilometers and 4.5 lakh people call it home, making it quite a densely packed area. One can see homes and shops glued to each other on both sides of the narrow alleys that sprawl across the heritage city. The Pols (a cluster of homes) houses both new constructions and heritage buildings almost three centuries old.

The current inhabitants in many old buildings have installed air conditioners defacing the property. The shop owners have encroached upon heritage sites such as Rani No Hajiro (Tomb of Ahmed Shah’s Queen Mughalai Bibi constructed in 1440) and built shops right next to Teen Darwaza (one of the historic entry points to the Old city built in 1415).

In other places, such as Ahmed Shah’s (the founder of Ahmedabad, completed in 1414) Tomb, push carts owned by food vendors who set up shop every night at Manek Chowk are parked right next to the monument, completely blocking it from view.

Meanwhile at Jama Masjid (completed in 1424 under Ahmed Shah’s rule), which lies in the heart of the walled city, many buildings have been constructed right next to its boundary wall, rendering it all but invisible.

Some locals who spoke to The Quint said that it was the local government who had given permission to construct the buildings decades ago.

Hawkers run the show between Teen Darwaza and Bhadra Fort (completed in 1411 under Ahmed Shah’s rule), and according to Nirav Panchal who has been conducting Heritage walks in the walled city for over 15 years.

I think around 1996 the government started taxing the hawkers. They don’t own the place, but now that they are taxed, no one can move them either. To remove them completely from the promenade will take time.

Is Heritage Status At Risk?

UNESCO’s auxiliary body, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), has stated in its report that commercial growth and traffic congestion is forcing old inhabitants out of the city. These inhabitants are either selling or renting their premises and the new inhabitants, who either have private or commercial interests, are wilfully destroying the historic architecture to add more amenities such as air conditioners or simply razing old structures to build new ones.

If this continues, UNESCO could pull back heritage city status from Ahmedabad. However, according to Debashish Nayak:

Losing a Heritage title is also not easy. First, a review committee must visit the city and conduct an inspection. If things have not improved, they will put Ahmedabad on an endangered list. All these matters will take time and it will not be completed in a year’s time. Most importantly, there is no record of a city losing its Heritage title in the world.

It will be wrong to say that the world heritage city status has been given to us on a conditional basis. We are, however, expected to do certain rectifications and upgradations from our end to maintain the status quo of the monuments and sites. More people will be joining our department as per the requirement of ICOMOS. These people will give focussed attention the walled city in terms of addressing encroachments both within heritage monuments and around it. In a worst-case scenario, the walled city will be put under endangered category.

A top official from AMC’s Heritage Department

Nayak also argues that removing all hawkers from the heritage sites could rob the heritage value of the monument.

Sometimes, encroachments (hawkers, etc) itself are part of the heritage and its character. If we sanitise these sites like many North African towns such as Fes and parts of Morocco did, then it will become a dead city.

Debashish Nayak, conservation architect and social entrepreneur

However, the AMC will have to make a clear distinction between residential/commercial encroachments and heritage flea markets.

Although there is hope that the walled city will remain a World Heritage site, the AMC and ASI need to synergise and pull up their socks to ensure that the inhabitants of the walled city maintain its dignity and authenticity and not push it to the brink of being a part of the endangered list.