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| Taq-e Bostan to Lose its Chance for World Registration | ||||||||||
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With construction of the railway of Kermanshah which will lead to Taq-e Bostan, this historical site will not only be directly threatened, it will also lose its chance to be inscribed in UNESCO. | |||||||||
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Tehran, 14 June 2006 (CHN) -- While cultural heritage experts have warned that construction of a railway in the city of Kermanshah in the north-south direction will endanger Taq-e Bostan historical site and greatly reduce its chance of being inscribed in the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, which is one of the programs of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization in the future, Iran’s Transportation Organization has approved the project of launching a city train in Kermanshah to solve the traffic problems of this city. Although construction of a city train will reduce the heavy traffic of Kermanshah to a large extent, it has now become a huge concern for cultural heritage authorities and experts who are deeply worried that this project would seriously threaten the historical site of Taq-e Bostan and Iran will lose its chance for inscribing this historical monument in UNESCO’s World Heritage List forever. On the other hand, while the authorities of Kermanshah’s Transportation Organization have approved the project of the city train, according to Siamak Khadivi, head of Taq-e Bostan project, it is still on its initial process and has not been formally announced. He also said that no negotiations have been made so far between the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Kermanshah province and the municipality of the city of Kermanshah about this project. “The news indicates that the city train will pass near the wall of Khosrow’s hunting ground, the place where Sayad-e Shirazi Bridge was once under construction. Thi has somehow confused us because only one of these two projects can be performed in this region,” said Khadivi. Prior to this, Cultural Heritage experts had expressed their concern about the construction of cable cars in the landscape of Taq-e Bostan historical site and when they alarmed that the construction of Sayad-e Shirazi Bridge in the vicinity of Khosrow’s hunting ground is a threat to this historical site, Kermanshah’s governor agreed to stop the project and change the path of the bridge. Now after more than one year, not only the map of the new path of the bridge has not been submitted to the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Kermanshah for further studies, another dilemma which is that of launching a city train near Taq-e Bostan has been created. Experts believe that the Iran’s proposal to inscribe Taq-e Bostan in UNESCO’s list would for sure be rejected if the train track passes near this historic site. In any case, it seems that all these problems have aroused due to lack of comprehensive regulations and accountability. The deputy of Kermanshah’s Transportation Organization has confirmed that the project is in its initial phase and its path can be changed provided that an agreement be reached with the other parties. Yet, the deputy of Kermanshah’s Transportation Organization believes that no harm will threaten Taq-e Bostan historical site by performing this project. Regarding the existing concerns over the project endangering this historical site and its world registration, he explained: “The Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization should clarify the vicinity of this historical site and determine whether the construction of the city train will have a positive or negative affect on Taq-e Bostan.” This is while the landscape of Taq-e Bostan had already been determined in 1970, which covered a long area including its nearby lake and forest. However, Kermanshah and its historic sites received great damages during the Iran-Iraq war which started in 1980 and lasted for eight years. Also, those who became homeless as a result of the war rushed to these historic regions and the land dealers began to take advantage of the uncontrolled situation created by the war and sold some of the nearby lands. Thus the beautiful landscape of Taq-e Bostan historical site was changed and it became limited to a very small vicinity. Now the time has come to stop more destructive activities in the area to save this historical site and do not let such a tragedy happen again in the area which will permanently take Taq-e Bostan out of UNESCO’s considered list. But the authorities of Kermanshah’s Transportation Organization argue that cultural heritage experts must determine a new boundary for this ancient site. What is obvious is that it is not the first time and for sure will not be the last time in Iran that a cultural heritage site is in a real jeopardy as a result of the country’s development projects. It seems that many fail to see the priority of preserving Iran’s cultural heritage over its development projects and find a balance which would let the development plans go forward without causing harm to the country’s cultural and natural heritage. A few weeks ago, UNESCO’s Director of World Heritage Center, Francesco Bandarin, paid a visit to Iran to examine and discuss a number of issues regarding some cultural heritage sites within the country that are in danger due to development projects. In an exclusive interview with CHN, he said that the problems Iran is facing with today as regards protection of cultural heritage versus performing of its development plans are the problems of all the countries that are developing. “However,” he added, “I think we are very lucky to have a situation in which developing starts in the moment when all these institutions and legislations that protect cultural and natural heritage sites are there so we can at least try to solve some of the problems that naturally arise from urban and economic growth.” The Taq-e Bostan (Bostan Arch) is situated 5 kilometers from of the city of Kermanshah, capital of Kermanshah province, western Iran. It is a series of large rock reliefs in the heart of Zagross Mountains, belonging to the Sassanid era (226-651 AD). The carvings which include representations of the investitures of Ardeshir II (379-383) and Shapur III (383-388) are some of the best examples of Persian sculpture during the Sassanid dynasty, survived after almost 1700 years despite situating in an open area exposed to strong winds and heavy rainfall. |
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