Planners to revive dying heritage

Planners to revive dying heritage
CHANDRASHEKHAR G.
ENGALURU


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City planners, wor-ried about Bengaluru’s disappearing heritage buildings, are keen on reviving the Bengaluru Urban Arts Commission to halt the trend to destroy culture.
ABIDe (Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure Development) may soon set up a coordination committee to preserve what is left of Bengaluru’s heritage buildings, according to sources. It is hoping to create a Bengaluru Heritage Register with a database of the city’s historical monuments. The city corporation may be given the responsibility of preparing a detailed road map for conservation of all private heritage properties, sources said. A nodal agency will be created for implementing the policy with a dedicated heritage cell, they added.

“The onslaught by multinational companies and the influx of people from all over the world into the city has resulted in heritage structures and monuments giving way to buildings replicating those in New York and elsewhere. The buildings with their glass facades have changed Bengaluru’s skyline and identity,” regrets a member of ABIDe.

The commission, which ABIDe plans to set up, will be given the task of identifying and preserving heritage structures by giving them a facelift while retaining their original architecture. The commission, which will be expected to coordinate with the Archaeological Survey of India and Karnataka Archaeology Department (KAD), will have members with an overwhelming interest in the history of Bengaluru, sources said.