Workshop on need to conserve havelis today

Seeking to make owners and occupiers of havelis and other heritage houses in Old Delhi a stakeholder in the conservation process, the north corporation and Intach will hold a thematic workshop at the historic Town Hall on Saturday.

The workshop on “Conservation of Heritage Buildings in Shahjahanabad” has been jointly organised by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation ( NDMC), Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation ( SRDC) and hosted by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage ( Intach).

It seeks to impress upon the heritage property owners to treat their houses as assets and not an economic liability.

“The NDMC came up with the initiative and approached us for the workshop. It is heartening that various stakeholders involved in the conservation process will come together and more so the heritage property- owners would be part of this exercise,” Intach Delhi Chapter convenor Swapna Liddle said.

A “special manual” for owners and occupiers of havelis and other heritage buildings in Shahjahanabad would also be released on the occasion.

The manual was commissioned by Intach in 2015, but it could not released back then, she said.

“The illustrated volume is like a ready reckoner for such heritage property owners or those who live in it. It has a broad overview about the Shahjahanabad and its heritage, or Old Delhi as we now call it. It will also act as a reference point for them to understand the value of architectural heritage and work on its upkeep,” Ms Liddle told a news agency.

Old Delhi is home to several havelis and heritage homes, many of which are in dire need of conservation.