UNESCO is concerned about the Blanka tunnel, a mission will arrive in Prague

Prague - According to the Aktuálně.cz server, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is concerned that the tunnel complex being built in the center of Prague may irreversibly damage the historic core of the capital. Therefore, a UNESCO mission is preparing to visit Prague early next year to assess the construction.
    "They will arrive in February or March," the server quotes the director of the Prague City Hall’s heritage department, Jan Kněžínka. Kněžínek is convinced that the foreign mission will not confirm any threats to Prague's UNESCO reserve.
    The Blanka tunnel complex will be part of the northwestern section of the city’s ring road, being constructed between Malovanka and Pelc Tyrolka. It will be over 6,300 meters long, with about six kilometers of tunnels. Construction is to be completed by the end of next year. The ring road is expected to be operational in the second half of 2011. The construction of the Blanka tunnel complex will cost Prague 21.2 billion crowns, with technology costs amounting to an additional 4.5 billion crowns.
    According to Aktuálně.cz, UNESCO expressed concern about the historic core of Prague as early as late June at a meeting in Seville, Spain. However, no responsible Czech institution has reportedly publicly informed about the exact conclusions of the meeting. The Ministry of Culture briefly stated that the World Heritage Committee requested a monitoring mission to verify that the Blanka tunnel would not threaten the exceptional universal value of the Prague reserve, the server reported.
    However, according to Aktuálně.cz, the World Committee's exact minutes from the June meeting were much harsher. UNESCO reportedly expressed its "deep concerns about the possible impacts of the Blanka tunnel" and simultaneously complained "about the lack of information and the apparent deficiency in assessing the impact of this project."
    The petition committee "We Want the Truth About the Tunnel" warned of the danger that the Blanka tunnel complex could damage the part of the heritage reserve near Prague Castle, the server reported.