The Rajasthan state apex advisory committee held a meeting in Jaipur during October under the chairman of chief secretary CK Mathew, to enlist the names of monuments to be nominated as world heritage sites for the year 2012-13. The committee has submitted the Kumbhalgarh, Amer, Gagron, Chittorgarh and Ranthambore forts in Rajasthan for approval so far and hope that 857-year-old Sonar Fort will join the list next year, if not this year.
At the meeting, district collector Shuchi Tyagi was directed to send a proposal for the commencement of conservation work on the Fort. Also the Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development (RUIDP) officers were called upon to begin work on the sewage line at earliest, ASI officers were asked to push the accelerator on repairs and restoration and the municipality was instructed that it is to pay special heed to the fort’s cleanliness and remove the vegetable market along its wall. Both the ASI and the municipal council are to station a vigilante at the fort.
While Tyagi acknowledged that the Sonar Fort is unlikely to be ready in time for this year’s list, her proposal, which she says will be submitted very soon, is likely to include removal of lavatories along the fort’s wall. She also wants a crackdown on unapproved commercial activity, accommodation and F and B businesses being run in the vicinity.
