Devaraja Market and Lansdowne Building will be conserved, says Yaduveer
The Hindu
Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar challenges expert committee's recommendation to demolish historic Devaraja Market and Lansdowne Building.
Reiterating his resolve to conserve Devaraja Market and Lansdowne Building in the city, Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar questioned the expert committee report recommending the demolition of the two heritage structures
He was speaking to media persons after inspecting a few heritage buildings in the city on Saturday. In reply to a question, Mr. Yaduveer said that the expert committee constituted by the then Deputy Commissioner had kept out people with knowledge on conservation and heritage.
Hence the qualification or the competence of the expert committee members who recommended the demolition of the heritage markets, was also questionable, he added.
The MP said the matter was before the Supreme Court and he was committed to conserving them and assured that it could be done.
N.S. Rangaraju of INTACH Mysuru said that both Devaraja Market and the Lansdowne Building were under A category of heritage structures and they could not be demolished as per the heritage bylaw.
‘’In Mysuru there are a good number of heritage buildings and are markers of the city providing it with an identity and it was our collective duty and responsibility to protect and conserve them’’, said Mr. Yaduveer.
Both Devaraja Market and Lansdowne Building are more than 125 years old and were one of their kind in the Princely Mysore State. But lack of maintenance and failure to adhere to conservation norms led to the gradual decay of the structures. While Devaraja Market faced the brunt of many fire accidents, a portion of the northern wing also collapsed in 2016 raising concerns of safety.