Teachers, students must climb buildings once a month to check water flow: MLA

Mysore/Mysuru: Students and staff of the historic Maharani’s College heaved a sigh of relief yesterday as the foundation was laid to repair the dilapidated structures. MLA L. Nagendra, along with a few students, performed the Guddali Puja for the works.

College’s Chemistry Lab had collapsed last week and fortunately, no student or staff suffered as they were vacated from the place minutes before the collapse.

The MLA said that the building is 107 years old and it was a sad development as a heritage building collapsed. “Fortunately, there was no damage to human life. Rs. 2 crore grants had been released earlier even before the laboratory collapsed and we were about to lay the foundation for the works,” he said.

Speaking about the public outrage against the Government for not protecting heritage structures and the failure of the administration, the MLA denied that the structures had been neglected by the present and past Governments and elected representatives. “One must understand that repairing and restoring heritage structures is expensive and not an easy task. Many of the buildings have collapsed due to lack of maintenance and there are stringent norms to be followed before a heritage building has to be repaired or restored,” he said.

He said that the Government and the Chief Minister are aware of the plight of the heritage structures in Mysuru and suitable decisions will be taken to protect them. Heritage experts, structural engineers and architects will be consulted and the repair works will be taken on priority. If need be, if the structures cannot be restored, they will be reconstructed keeping heritage aesthetics in mind,” Nagendra noted.

Putting the onus of maintaining the Maharani’s College on the students and staff, Nagendra said that the teachers and students should ensure that the buildings are properly maintained. “Every week or at least once a month they must climb onto the roof to ensure that the rainwater is flowing smoothly. Stagnant water leads to seepage and the leaves dropped from the trees on the buildings must be cleared. Principals and students must lead the initiative,” he said.

Corporator Shivakumar, Joint Director of Collegiate Education Prof. Giridhar Rao, Maharani’s Science College Principal Dr. D. Ravi, Maharani’s Arts College Principal Prof. Srinivas.