Authorities look the other way citing fund crunch, lament conservationists
Mysore/Mysuru: Frequent collapse of heritage buildings in Heritage City has caused concern among conservationists, heritage experts and the general public. While a portion of Maharani’s Science College collapsed yesterday, reducing the Chemistry Laboratory and another adjacent room into rubble, a portion of the Mysore Palace Fort collapsed just days ago.
In the recent past, Mysuru has witnessed the collapse of Devaraja Market, Lansdowne Building, Fire Brigade Office and Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion to name a few and many other buildings are in the long line of structures standing precariously even as the Government and the authorities are looking the other way.
While there are over 500 heritage structures in Mysuru, 129 of them have been listed as dangerous and need urgent restoration. 25 among them have been listed under the immediate restoration category.
Some of the buildings that need urgent repairs are the DC’s Office, Sanskrit Patashala, Silver Jubilee Clock Tower, Government Guest House, MCC Office, CADA Office, MMC&RI and its hostels. Unfortunately, despite the classification as dangerous, no funds are allocated.
Maharani’s College plight was known
Heritage experts and the Government-appointed District Heritage Committee had alerted the Government about the dilapidated Maharani’s Science College two years ago but nothing was done to restore the buildings, putting students and staff into a dangerous situation. Fortunately, yesterday when the building collapsed, all the students and staff were vacated by the College Principal Dr. D. Ravi and Chemistry Head of the Department Dr. K.K. Padmanabha due to their presence of mind and alertness.
When the precarious condition of Maharani’s College was brought to the fore, new buildings were constructed by the side of Valmiki Road but the old buildings were neglected. Still, classes continued to be held there with scant regard for the student and staff safety, exposing the callousness of the authorities.
Lack of funds common excuse
The Heritage Committee also recommended MCC to set aside emergency funds to repair 25 heritage buildings. This suggestion was ignored, said Prof. N.S Rangaraju, retired Professor from Dept. of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore, who is also a Member of Heritage Conservation Committee, Govt. of Karnataka and Convener of INTACH, Mysuru Chapter.
“The main reason cited by the powers that be is fund crunch. Heritage structures need a lot of money for restoration and the authorities have always cited perennial fund shortage. I feel that there is a lack of will to restore the heritage nature of Mysuru city and this has added to the mismanagement. We should have woken up when the Lansdowne Building collapsed and urgent repairs should have been done. But the issue was neglected,” Prof. Rangaraju lamented.
Will call for a meeting soon
While rains have caused extensive damage to the heritage buildings, many of the structures have vegetation sprouting from the walls, crevices and roofs. This further weakens the structures. Unfortunately, the vegetation on the heritage buildings have been left to grow by the building occupants without removing them. The present condition of heritage structures is the result of years of negligence. I will call for a meeting of all stakeholders soon to take stock of the situation and discuss conservation and preservation of old buildings. – Shivakumar, Mayor
Danger for heritage
In 2012, Lansdowne Building collapsed and four people were killed and the building has been abandoned now. In 2016, the arch and the entrance of Devaraja Market on Dhanvantri Road crashed and except for some superficial works, nothing was done. In 2019, the entrance of the Saraswathipuram Fire Brigade building fell and here too nothing was done. In 2020, the Mysore Medical College Hostel roof caved-in and this too was neglected. In 2021, the ceiling of Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion caved-in at two places and here too, except for some ad-hoc repairs, nothing concrete was done. This year, a portion of the Vani Vilas Market chajja collapsed and also a portion of the Palace Fort crashed. Now, the Chemistry Lab of the Maharani’s Science College has collapsed and here too, there will be no action. – Prof. N.S. Rangaraju, Heritage Expert
This post was published on October 22, 2022 6:42 pm