Kalka-Shimla Railway may be included in World Heritage List

NEW DELHI: The Kalka-Shimla Railway, a living example of the engineering marvel of the 19th century, and Assam's Majuli island, the world's largest mid-river deltaic island, are among 47 sites globally which the United Nations will consider for inclusion in the World Heritage List.
    
The Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will begin its nine-day meeting in Quebec in Canada from July 2 to consider the nominations which include 13 natural sites and 34 cultural sites.
    
India's both the nominations - Majuli and Kalka-Shimla Railway (KSR) - are in the cultural site category.
    
"If the KSR gets the UNESCO nod for inscription then Indian Railways would have World Heritage Sites in all the four regions in the country with Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in the east, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal in the west, Nilgiri Mountain Railway in the south and now Kalka Shimla Railway in the north," said a senior Railways Ministry official.
    
Railways have not taken any chance and prepared a detailed documentation on the KSR to be examined by the committee. "Large dossiers comprising maps, charts, diagrams and audio visual content have been sent to the committee. We will present our case in a most comprehensive way," said the official.
    
Indian Railways' application for inclusion of these sites in the World Heritage List was sent in 2005.
    
UNESCO had sent a team last year to Shimla for an on-the-spot evaluation of the site. The two-member team had inspected the entire 96.6 km-long stretch between Shimla and Kalka including 103 stations, 869 bridges and 18 stations during their 10-day visit.
    
Kalka-Shimla Railway, constructed in 1903, is one of the most significant hill railways of the country. A special feature of this line is multi-arch galleries which have been built instead of conventional bridges.
    
Once it is inscribed as World Heritage Site, then the area would attract tourists from abroad in large numbers. The place will become a major global tourist hub in the Himalayas, said the official.
    
Currently there are 851 sites of "outstanding universal value" in 141 countries that have been inscribed on the World Heritage List, and each year sites are added after applications are first reviewed by either the International Council on Monuments and Sites or the International Union for Conservation of Nature.