Lumbini escapes being listed as heritage at risk

KATHMANDU, July 28:Kathmandu: The proposal to enlist Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, as the heritage at risk has been disapproved.

A proposal to this end was discussed and voted during the 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee undergoing in New Delhi, India.

A team comprising Vice Chair of Lumbini Development Trust, Dr Lhyarkal Lama, and Secretary at Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Dr Ganesh Prasad Pandey and other officials had attended the session.

Representatives from 19 countries out of 21 attending the event said as Lumbini is a unique place of importance, Nepal should be given time for reforms, but not listing it as a site facing threat.

The amendment on draft of the proposal for it was forwarded by India, which was endorsed by the 19 other countries, according to Sanuraj Shakya, Member Secretary at Lumbini Development Trust.

The UNESCO had warned Nepal since 2002 that anti-conservation activities as random construction of infrastructures were going on in Lumbini and it could list it as a heritage at risk.