Kathmandu Valley to be an Endangered Site?

July 6, 2017

Nepali officials are worried as the UNESCO authorities meet to discuss on Nepal’s heritage site, at the ongoing 41^st annual UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s Conference in Krakow, Poland.

In the meeting, a team of UNESCO experts will decide on whether to include Kathmandu Valley in the UNESCO’s list of world’s endangered heritage sites. Nepali authorities are worried that the decision would hurt the country’s tourism sector, while also incurring additional budget to the government exchequer towards re-building efforts.

Going by the disaster the Valley witnessed during 2015 earthquake, the German-based international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW), noted that the Valley could go into the endangered list.

Nepal Tourism Secretary, Shankar Prasad Adhikari, has already left for the meeting. The annual four-day event is witnessing 21 representatives from UNESCO member states, more than 170 observer nations, and various non-governmental organizations.

The 2015 earthquake was a massive disaster for the Valley, as it suffered the damage of three of its seven monument zones, which resulted in the death of almost 8000 people.