Belagavi: A group of people from different walks of life with a common interest in conservation of heritage, culture and art came under one roof, thanks to Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage Intach ), Belagavi Chapter will start documentation of the historic Belagavi Fort this year.Intach, which has over 270 chapters nationwide, started the Belagavi Chapter in 2016.Under the guidance of convener Justice Jeenadatta Desai and co-convener Vinod Doddannavar, the Belagavi Chapter has conducted Heritage Walks at historic places like Belagavi and Rajhungad forts, establishing heritage clubs in schools, quiz competitions, Route to Routes (where students write essays and draw paintings of heritage sites), exhibitions and workshops over the past two years.It started with 25 members from diverse fields such as architecture, history, built-heritage conservation, writers, activists, professionals and educationists, among others but now has over 40 members and has planned some major activities for the next year.Besides documenting structures, houses, trees, birds and religious centres at Belagavi Fort under the guidance of Nitin Khot, the Belagavi chapter will release its first book about national and built-heritage sites and architectural structures of Belagavi penned by historian Smita Surebankar at its third foundation day ceremony on September 3.Doddannavar said, “As part of the conservation of heritage places and our rich art and culture, we’ve been conducting various drives over the past couple of years. Our main objective is to educate children about conservation and protection of heritage sites and to conduct research. At the same time, we want to pressurise the authority to step this work.”Swati Jog, an active member of Intach who does heritage education and communication services, said, “Although there are wonderful heritage places in and around Belagavi, it’s unfortunate that there is not a single museum in the city. It has been a very old demand to the authorities as well to elected representatives. There were some plans when Shalini Rajnish was the deputy commissioner of Belagavi but they remained on paper. We’ll make this demand again.”

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