Kathmandu Valley

• Collapse of the roof of the Patan Temple (issue resolved)
• Landslide
• Need to revise the implementation of the Action Plan
• Need for restoration/consolidation works
• Encroachment
• Rebuilding
• Traffic pressures 

The World Heritage Committee at its eighteenth session expressed its appreciation for the monitoring report prepared by the Department of Archaeology on the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Committee at its seventeenth session. The Committee approved in December 1994, a technical cooperation request under the World Heritage Fund to finance a six-month mission of an international technical adviser to Kathmandu to assist the authorities in the preparation of a package of projects for international funding and to establish a development control unit within the Department of Archaeology to prevent further encroachment of the protected monument zones of this World Heritage site, and to implement the other recommendations made by the UNESCO/ICOMOS mission of November 1993. The international expert has been identified and deployment is scheduled for August 1995.

On 23 February 1995, the World Heritage Centre officially transmitted its concern to the Government of Nepal on reports concerning the demolition of Joshi Agamchen in Kathmandu Darbar Square Monument Zone. By letter of 14 March 1995, the Director-General of the Department of Archaeology informed the Centre of its intervention with the private trust which is the owner of this historic building to ensure that the conservation works in progress meet the international standards of conservation practice.

The continued demolition of historic buildings located on the fringe of the existing boundaries of Patan Darbur Square Monument Zone has been reported. This area is part of the suggested expansion zone to be included in the revised boundary which was accepted by the Government following the UNESCO/ICOMOS mission recommendation. The new gazette of the revised boundary has not yet been issued.

Noting with concern reports on the continued demolition of and alterations to historic buildings within the World Heritage protected zones and in areas pending official inclusion, the Bureau requests the urgent publication of the Government gazette indicating the new boundaries of the protected areas and the early establishment of the Inter-ministerial Task Force to implement the actions agreed upon by the Government to strengthen the protection of the World Heritage site of Kathmandu Valley. The Bureau requests the Inter-ministerial Task Force and the international technical adviser to report, through the official Government channels, to the nineteenth session of the Committee.

The technical cooperation grant approved by the Committee at its eighteenth session in December 1994, enabled the deployment in October 1995 of an International Technical Adviser (ITA) to Kathmandu for a period of five months to assist the authorities in the preparation of project proposals for international funding and to establish a development control unit within the Department of Archaeology. Three national professionals will be trained as development control officers by the ITA during this assignment and subsidies for 12 months will be provided for them under the Fund's technical cooperation grant on the understanding that they will be integrated as DOA staff beyond that period.

Under the on-going UNESCO/Japan Trust Fund project, the hand- and photogrammetric recording of Patan Durbar Square was completed in June 1995 and transferred to the Department of Archaeology for its documentation unit currently being established under the same project. Five-month training of three documentalists will be carried out from the systematic monitoring budget allocated to the Centre for 1995.

The official gazette of the revised boundaries of the monuments zones has not yet been issued despite repeated indication by the DOA of its imminent publication.

The Bureau at its nineteenth session expressed its concern over the continued demolition of and alterations to historic buildings within the World Heritage protected zones and in areas pending official inclusion and requested the inter-ministerial task force and the International Technical Adviser to report, through the official Government channels, to the nineteenth session of the Committee. At the time of writing, this report has not reached the Secretariat.

The Bureau may wish to recommend the Committee to reiterate the request to His Majesty's Government of Nepal to provide a report on the progress in the implementation of the November 1993 UNESCO/ICOMOS recommendations.