Guwahati, July 9: Majuli drowned Assam’s hopes when it lost yet another chance to get the coveted World Heritage Site tag.

India’s stake for the prestigious title for the river island on the Brahmaputra was voted down at the 32nd meeting of the World Heritage Committee of the Unesco at Quebec in Canada late last night. “Majuli has not been inscribed” Roni Amelan of the Bureau of Public Information of Unesco said in an email to The Telegraph.

Confirming the report, Assam cultural affairs minister Gautam Bora said Majuli had to bow out in the voting as some of the members supporting India’s stake for Majuli did not turn up.

He, however, said there was a silver lining as Majuli’s claim for the prestigious tag was neither rejected nor deferred by the committee. Majuli can be renominated for the Unesco title after one year.

The Centre had nominated the name of Majuli Island in Jorhat district of Upper Assam to be inscribed on Unesco’s World Heritage list under the Cultural Landscape category.

Sources said Majuli lost out in the voting as New Delhi did not do enough lobbying to get the support of the members. It was first nominated for World Heritage status in 2004.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), an advisory body of the Unesco World Heritage Centre, had carried out a detailed evaluation of Majuli island in 2005. Based on the Icomos report, the nomination came up for consideration before the World Heritage Committee in 2006, but was referred back asking the government to assemble more information on the satras remaining on the island and how they had influenced its landscape and culture.

The committee had also asked the government to create an inventory of architecture and spatial patterns associated with the satras and to come up with legal protection to safeguard the river island.

The Archaeological Survey of India, which acts as the nodal agency for nomination of Indian sites on the World Heritage List, had prepared a detailed document with the help of consultants.

Given the complexity of the site, the additional documentation had been prepared using a multi-disciplinary approach and in consultation with a number of field agencies including those under the ministry of water resources and the state government.

Though the World Heritage Committee was satisfied with Majuli’s claim, it could not get the title as many member countries were opposed to its inscription.