Mysuru:  MLA Vasu performed puja using a trowel (karni) for the renovation and restoration of the 185-year-old Maharaja’s PU College building on JLB Road here this morning. The work has commenced as the Director, Department of PU Education C. Shikha, has released Rs.1.50 crore grant, though the proposal sent by the College was for Rs. 3 crore.

The heritage building’s walls are crumbling, plasters are peeling off, compound has collapsed, plants have grown on the walls which house the library and the convention hall in the first floor.  “All this will be a thing of the past once the restoration work is over. The entire work is likely to be completed in 11 months and the heritage structure will be restored to its past glory,” said Vasu, who is also the Chairman of the College Development Committee.

The problems and damages that have occurred in the building include leakage in roof, leakage at rainwater pipe mouth point and damaged rainwater pipe.

The wooden rafters below the roof are sagging and there are cracks in ceiling plastering and wall structure. The flooring in rooms and corridors, the doors, windows and wooden railings are all damaged.

The methodology adopted for restoration and renovation include Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) coat water-proofing for leakage in roof, making ‘khurra’ at the rainwater point and replacement of rainwater pipe.

The wooden rafters will be supported perpendicularly by using box section and the cracks will be sealed using non-shrinkage grout and additional reinforcement will be provided by using welded mesh and re-plastering. The floors will be relayed using vitrified tiles. The doors, windows and wooden railings will be replaced by detrained wood and redoing railing.

The building will be painted using plastic emulsion paint for internal walls and ceiling and anti-fungal exterior paints for external walls.

“I am very happy that my efforts have at last paid off and the restoration work has commenced. The PU Department has released Rs. 1.50 crore and we hope the remaining Rs. 1.50 crore will also be released soon so that all the works including that on the compound can be completed,” former Principal of Maharaja’s PU College and Director of PU Education (Retd.) B.S. Sridhar Raje Urs told SOM. Sridhar Raje Urs, also the President of Maharaja’s High School and PU College Alumni Association, is spearheading the movement to restore the college.