Clean sweep in heritage week

AHMEDABAD: Across the globe, people will celebrate the World Heritage Week from November 19 to 25, cherishing local heritage and working to conserve it. But in Gujarat, except for the better known structures, historical edifices are on the brink of oblivion and many have been turned into garbage dumping grounds. A team from the city has thus fused the mission of the Prime Minister to clean India with the heritage week celebrations.
A team of 10 from the city, a part of the Ahmedabad-based Historical and Cultural Research Center, will embark on a journey on November 19 from Patan (Anhilwad) to reach to Patan (Prabhas) on November 25. The team will cover 12 locations during the week during which they will mobilize local residents by conducting walks to important monuments and then cleaning them up.
The sites the team will cover include Patan, Palodar (Mehsana), Ahmedabad, Sathamba (Bayad), Kapadvanj, Vadodara, Mehmdabad, Viramgam, Halvad, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Vanthali, Keshod and Somnath. The endeavour has the support of the Somnath Temple trust.
Kapil Thakar, the managing trustee of the center, told TOI that the team has been engaging in similar activities at the micro level since 2008, but it wanted to do something across the state and so the time was chosen when both heritage and cleanliness are in the air.
"Our purpose is to create awareness in local communities as they are the ultimate owners and conservators of heritage," said Thakar. "The government or institutions like the Archaeological Survey of India will do their bit, but if local residents can understand the value of what they have and vow to protect it for posterity, it will be the first step towards securing our heritage. We have been able to create groups at each spot ranging from 50 to 200 volunteers who will help us in the cause."