Apt, but heritage tag eludes Bangalore

Apt, but heritage tag eludes Bangalore
Ashwini Y S | TNN

Bangalore: Bangalore has over 700 heritage buildings, but still, it has all other sobriquets — Silicon City and Garden City — except the heritage tag. When the state government accorded ‘Heritage City’ status to six cities in Karnataka two years ago, Bangalore was conspicuously missing from it. As a result, a number of heritage buildings are under the threat of either being sold off without public knowledge or giving way to new buildings.
While private structures like the Elgin Flour Mills on Hosur Road and Sesh Mahal Bungalow in Basavanagudi have succumbed to destruction, government buildings like the Government Press (next to M S building) and Sudarshan Guest House (near Vidhana Soudha) too have not been spared. These are just a handful of examples, and many more buildings that are still standing are under the constant threat of the hammer. There is neither a state monitoring agency nor a strong legislation to safeguard them.
Though the department of archaeology, museums and heritage exists, it is left with little authority to save these structures.
A source in the department, who does not want to be identified, says it can only oversee archaeological and heritage projects in Gulbarga, Bidar, Bijapur, Srirangapatna, Kittur and Mysore, which have been given the heritage city status.
“Since the buildings have already been identified, they just need to be listed as heritage structures. We have asked the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to notify them. Based on that, building restrictions and maintenance rules can be formulated. We plan to begin with buildings listed in architect-historian T P Issar’s book The City Beautiful,’’ he said.
The department is planning to hold discussions with the urban development department and BBMP shortly.
H R Prathibha, convener of the Bangalore chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), says it is important to amend the country and town planning Acts. “This is the only way to protect private buildings. The owners need to be placed under legislation, where they can be given a compensation, as it is done in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi.’’
Kannada and culture secretary I M Vittal Murthy told The Times of India that BBMP has been entrusted with safeguarding heritage buildings in the city under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. BBMP, heritage department and urban development department will meet shortly to decide on the steps to be taken, he said.
CITY’S PRIDE
Government Museum, Attara Kacheri, Glass House, Registrar of Co-op Societies, Palace Hotel on Ali Asker Road, Balabrooie, Greaves Cotton office, Manickvelu Mansion, Mayo Hall, Cauvery Arts and Crafts on M G Road, Government Arts and Science College, Central College, State Bank of India general manager’s residence, West End Hotel, New Opera, Khaleel Building, Oriental Building, Higgin Bothams, Plaza Theater, St Joseph’s College, LIC Building, George Oaks Buildings, SBM, Government Law College, Revenue Survey Offices, New Public Offices, Kamala Girls’ High School, Mitralaya Girls’ High School, Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall, St Martha’s Hospital, Bowring, Victoria, Vani Vilas and Minto Hospitals, Kumara Krupa, Central Library, Cubbon Park, Burnside, Mysore Tobacco and Central Jail.