Minister Khader assures of early solution to stalemate

Mysuru: The two expert committees’ conflicting reports regarding the heritage Lansdowne Building as to whether it should be restored or demolished and reconstructed has put the State Government in a fix as it tries to find a solution to the stalemate.

This was the feeling that emerged when Urban Development Minister U.T. Khader addressed the media this morning after inspecting the Lansdowne Building for about 45 minutes, along with District Minister G.T. Devegowda, Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, and officials of  MCC and MUDA.

“There are two reports of the expert committees, one favouring demolition of the heritage structure and the other strongly recommending that the heritage structure should be retained and restored. Both the committees have submitted the report to the Government. Now, the Government has to take a stand soon after holding a meeting with the Chief Minister in this regard,” said Minister Khader.

He said that the tragedy occurred in Lansdowne Building when a portion of the roof collapsed on Aug. 28, 2012 in which four people lost their lives. It is six years now and no progress has been made regarding its restoration or reconstruction.

“Both options have to be weighed whether to retain the heritage structure or demolish it and reconstruct it.  A Detailed Project Report (DPR) regarding both the options are also ready. A decision, however, will be taken soon,” he assured.

“Throughout the State there are heritage structures like this some of which are strong and a few others weak. We have asked the engineers for reports on them and based on the reports, decisions will be taken,” said Khader.

Action against officials for building law violations

Speaking on MUDA Adalat that he was going to chair later, Khader said that rules will be framed shortly to take action against not only the owners who violate building laws but also against officials who allow such violations [See page 4 also]. He said that there were lot of complaints from the public regarding licenses, approvals, issuance of khatas and that is the reason why the Adalat had been called.

To solve such issues a Single Window System will be in place for approval of layouts and building plans. There are also complaints that Civic Amenities (CA) site rules have been violated. Hence, an expert committee will soon be formed to look into such complaints, he said.

District In-charge Minister G.T. Devegowda (GTD) said that there were lot of complaints regarding accessibility for the general public in MUDA and to find out these problems, the Adalat was being held there.

Regarding the Lansdowne building which is more than a century old, Surki Gaare (a type of plastering) was used just like in Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam. While a few experts say that this type of Gaare is strong, others feel that it cannot withstand the vagaries of time and hence has to be demolished.

The Heritage Committee recently has submitted a report to the DC who in turn has sent it to the Government and a decision will soon be taken after a meeting with the CM, said GTD.

MCC Executive Engineer Nagaraj,  Superintending Engineer (SE) Suresh, MUDA Commissioner P.S. Kantharaj, SE P.N. Suresh Babu, former Mayors Arif Hussain, Ayub Khan and officials were also present.