Kathmandu, April 21:

A high-level international mission of the United Nations Education Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) is visiting Kathmandu next week to decide whether to remove the Kathmandu Valley from the “monuments in danger” list.

“A high-level joint mission is coming here to monitor the conservation works being done in the seven monument zones of the Kathmandu Valley and decide whether to lift the valley from the list of ‘monuments in danger’ or to completely de-list it,” Kosh Prasad Acharya, director-general, Department of Archaeology, told this daily.

He said that the mission comprising high-level conservation experts from the World Heritage Centre and International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) will arrive in the capital on Tuesday and stay here for a week, inspecting all seven monument zones and preparing a report on the development in conservation works.

The UNESCO recognised the Kathmandu Valley as a World Heritage Site, considering the Malla-period palaces of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur; temples of Pashupatinath and Changu Narayan as well as the stupas of Swayambhu and Boudha, as the valley’s Protected Monument Zones in 1979. But after warning repeatedly over degrading monument zones, the UNESCO had put the valley on the infamous list of “monuments in danger”.

However, in July 2006, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO decided to delay the final decision on the Kathmandu Valley till this July. The mission will soon submit its report, which is going to be the basis for the discussion on the next general assembly of the UNESCO, scheduled to take place this July. Acharya hoped that the seven monument zones of the Kathmandu Valley will be removed from the “List of World Heritage in Danger” next year.

“We are hopeful that, once the mission submits reports, the UNESCO will remove the tag of ‘monuments in danger’ from the valley and it will be a great reward for the conservation workers here,” he said, adding that the UNESCO has very positive attitude towards the conservation we have been initiating in the monument areas.

“Nepal is preparing an Integrated Management Plan (IMP), which should be submitted to UNESCO by June 1,” he said. “We are also going to talk with the mission on the IMP, which is almost ready. We want some suggestions from the mission before finalising our plan,” he said.