Heritage walk proposed for residents to know city better

KOCHI: A heritage walk helps residents and guests to know a city better. It also helps to maintain streets clean, Debashish Naik, who heads the heritage wing of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, said. Taking corporators and officials through an audio-visual presentation at the Kochi Corporation Council Hall on Thursday, he said that the heritage walk through old Ahmedabad is very popular, with even visiting dignitaries taking part in it.

�There are many national monuments in the area. Similar walks can be replicated in Kochi and need very little investment. They have a catalytic effect. Apart from ensuring cleanliness, the project helped renovate old buildings. Community spaces were upgraded in the walled portions of Ahmedabad city. They together resulted in higher living standards of the residents in the densely-populated area.

The municipal corporations heritage wing also provided engineering assistance to reinforce weak buildings and to renovate them. Care was taken to preserve the 120 bird feeders and bird pools in all neighbourhoods of the old city. The programme was titled �Getting the city back to the people. Care was also taken to have a pedestrian plaza and areas through which pedestrians could walk freely.