NEW DELHI,Jul 9, Ahmedabad city has been declared as a World Heritage City at the 41st session of UNESCO's world heritage committee being held at Krakow in Poland. Nomination of Ahmedabad was supported by close to 20 countries, including Turkey, Lebanon, Tunisia, Portugal, Peru and Kazakhstan.

AIR correspondent reports that the secular co-existence of Islamic, Hindu and Jain communities along with exemplary architecture of wooden havelis got unanimously support. The city was also the center for India's non-violent freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi.

The walled city has 26 ASI-protected structures, hundreds of 'pols' that capture the essence of community living and numerous sites associated with Mahatma Gandhi who lived here from 1915 to 1930. Now, Ahmedabad will join the world heritage cities like Paris, Cairo and Edinburgh.


Out of total 287 world heritage cities across the globe, there were only two cities in the Indian subcontinent- Bhaktpur in Nepal and Galle in Sri Lanka. The UNESCO tag will add immense value to Ahmedabad city which will also boost tourism.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and BJP President Amit Shah have hailed the declaration of Ahmedabad as world heritage city by UNESCO.