Ahmedabad's heritage properties will get a blue bauble

In a bid to make UNESCO properties even more distinct and easily identifiable, many monuments and houses in the city will now get blue plaques to mark them. So now, exploring the Pols, one will be able to spot the sites marked by UNESCO as part of World Heritage City. The civic body has already started pasting these plaques on each listed heritage property.

"Those listed properties needed to get a different identity. This makes it easier for the tourists or visitors to identify the heritage houses without the help of guides. Additionally, the blue badges will be a matter of pride for the house owners as well," said Ashish Trambadia, director, World Heritage City Trust of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

The blue-coloured round plaques in the city will be similar to the iconic ones in London, believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world. In London, there are around 940 such blue plaques on the heritage sites, while Ahmedabad will have more than 2,500 such plaques.

The civic body has already modified the plaques. "Earlier there was a sticker over a steel badge which was easy to tamper with. The newly-designed plaques will be engraved with details of a particular house number, building or location," claimed Trambadia.

The plaques designed for the city reads 'Ahmedabad World Heritage City' along with its respective grade and category, survey number and location. "There will be two sizes of the plaques for residential and other institutional monuments," added the director. To honour the heritage status, the civic body has initiated to give tax bills to the heritage units in yellow colour paper with the seal of World Heritage City.

The city has been recognised by many tourists after bagging the World Heritage City status from the UNESCO. Apart from the monuments, there are more than 2200 residential units located in different Pols, 49 institutional buildings and other sites.

Plaque Gambit

• Apart from the monuments, there are more than 2,200 residential units located in different Pols, 49 institutional buildings and other sites that are a part of the city’s rich heritage legacy. 
• The blue-coloured plaques in the city will be similar to the iconic ones  in London, believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world. There are over 940 such plaques in London, whereas Ahmedabad will have 2,500 plaques.