UNESCO established 18 April as the International Day for Monuments and Sites in 1983. The aim was to raise awareness about the importance and the need to preserve the world’s monuments. This article was published on The Quint earlier.
Many Bengalurigas are worried that elected MLAs look at the city’s heritage sites merely as a land in a prime locality and turn a blind eye to people’s sentiments attached to the history of these buildings.
Carlton House, a classic European structure, off Vidhana Soudha on Palace road is 135 years old. The Times of India report said that in a meeting with media, NH Shivashankara Reddy, the deputy speaker said that the colonial structure, which houses the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department, would be turned into a club house for legislators, for which an initial investment of Rs 25 crore is being set aside.
Citizen Action Forum, Sahiti Mattu Kalavidara Vedike members and BPAC, have launched the ‘Save Carlton House as a heritage site’ campaign to save heritage precincts. According to a report in the Bangalore Mirror, the member of the two forums, discussed the urgent need for the government to understand the importance of these buildings. They urged the introduction of a cultural policy that would avoid the future governments from seeing themselves as owners of these spaces.
More than 200 legislators in Karnataka get elected elsewhere. They don’t understand the history and have no attachment for the city’s heritage. However, they would pose a similar protest if a 100 year old temple in their place is ordered to be demolished, because they understand its significance.
—Prakash Belawadi, a city based architect, to The News Minute
High Time for a Cultural Policy
Naresh Narasimhan who also staged a protest against government privatising heritage buildings told The News Minute:
The reason why these buildings are an attraction for the government is because it is near Vidhana Soudha. The eight acres of Carlton house land is valued more than 100 crore and the government which is elected for just five years want to turn it into a club house.
—Naresh Narasimhan
In March the Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah wanted to move his residence to a part of Carlton house which displeased many people.
Narasimhan, who works with award winning architecture firm, Venkatraman associates said:
Politicians should be custodians of public property and take it away because they have the power to. A good way to preserve these properties can be by converting these buildings to museums for people.
—Naresh Narasimhan
Talking about a proposing a Heritage Act, Narasimhan said:
We don’t have a law to preserve these heritage buildings. If there is a cultural policy in place, it would help the future generations to understand the bits of history that will survive.
—Naresh Narasimhan
Politicians’ desire to park themselves in a heritage site is not a new one. This is the second effort to takeover Carlton house. In 2014 the Balabrooie guest house, a 150 year old building, was considered for the same project.
(The article written by Sarayu Srinivasan originally appeared in The News Minute.)
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