Aurangabad: There has been no progress even seven months after the state government announced that the city would be recommended for inclusion under the central government's heritage conservation scheme HRIDAY Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, during a press conference after a cabinet meeting on October 4, said that a formal proposal would be sent to the Centre shortly recommending the inclusion of Aurangabad under the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme (HRIDAY).With Aurangabad's heritage facing serious threat, history experts have expressed displeasure over Fadnavis not keeping his promise on such an important issue. Sanket Kulkarni, an expert member on a government committee for the conservation of forts, said everyone has become oblivious about the inclusion of Aurangabad in the HRIDAY scheme. "Neither has the CM's office asked local authorities to send any proposal, nor have any competent authorities reminded the government about its promise. In the end, Aurangabad suffers," said Kulkarni.Jayant Deshpande, chief of the heritage conservation committee of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, said no progress has taken place regarding the matter. "We do not know reasons why things are not progressing as announced. There could be technical issues at the higher level we are unaware of," he said.The ministry of urban development launched the HRIDAY scheme on January 21, 2015, to develop heritage cities. Twelve cities have already been selected and work under the scheme is scheduled for completion by November 2018.The 2018 deadline is believed to be one of the possible reasons why Aurangabad was not included in the scheme. "It may be that the chief minister made the announcement regarding Aurangabad too late. If the city has missed the bus for the first phase, the government should ensure it at least finds a place in the second phase," said Kulkarni.When contacted, local BJP MLA Atul Save said he would remind the CMO about sending the proposal to the Centre. "Most of the promises made during Cabinet meeting have been fulfilled and only a few are left due to certain technical issues," he said.

Stay updated with all the Latest Aurangabad headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.