ISLAMABAD: The coordination committee on heritage sites has decided to map cultural, natural and religious sites across the country to develop plans for the preservation of heritage sites.

Tuesday’s meeting was chaired by Minister for National History and Literary Heritage Shafqat Mehmood and attended by culture and archaeology ministers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Singh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

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National History and Literary Heritage Secretary Aamir Hasan, provincial secretaries, Department of Archaeology and Museums Islamabad Director General Syed Junaid Ashlaq and the Unesco director were also present.

The participants agreed to mapping cultural, natural and religious sites across the country, and to work together to prepare nomination dossiers of cultural and national heritage sites for Unesco’s World Heritage list.

A Punjab government representative gave a detailed presentation at the meeting on the impact of the Orange Line project on the Shalimar Gardens, while the director of the KP Department of Archaeology and Museums spoke about initiatives taken by the provincial government to implement cabinet decisions.

The minister said at the meeting that his division would provide all the coordination and assistant necessary to enhance cooperation in the area of literary, built-up and intangible cultural heritage. The provinces were asked to submit their suggestions for the preservation, maintenance and protection of heritage sites.

The committee was established in June 2018 to enhance coordination and information-sharing between federal and provincial governments on heritage sites.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2019