Heritage endangered: Mysuru grapples with conservation challenges Premium

Funding for conservation was never a priority for any of government. Even the existing 131 notified heritage buildings face financial constraints. Even if there is an annual grant, it goes towards basic maintenance, like in case of a few structures that house government offices. But the available funds do little to meet the cost of major restoration work, which is an imperative for many of the buildings.

For long known as the cultural capital of Karnataka, with a blend of the traditional and the modern, Mysuru is grappling with challenges that have a negative bearing on its architectural legacy.

The crisis is a lack of serious conservation initiative by the government in the absence of which the future looks grim for Mysuru’s heritage structures.

The city had 131 notified heritage buildings at the last count, but conservation specialists say that the number is not less than 500, and an upward revision of the notified list is a must. And therein lies the challenge.

Funding for conservation was never a priority for any of government. Even the existing 131 notified heritage buildings face financial constraints. Even if there is an annual grant, it goes towards basic maintenance, like in case of a few structures that house government offices. But the available funds do little to meet the cost of major restoration work, which is an imperative for many of the buildings.

‘’If this is the situation with regard to notified heritage structures, one can imagine the fate of the remaining buildings that meet all criteria of being labelled as a heritage building but will not be declared as such given the financial implications,” said Prof. N.S. Rangaraju, who retired from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore.

Longer the delay in notifying and recognizing the heritage value of a structure, wider will be the window of opportunity for land sharks and developers to buy them from the owners and raze them to construct commercial complexes.

Experts aver that the city landscape does not have any one specific style of architecture to the exclusion of others. One finds a tapestry of different styles dotting the skyline. Hence, it is easy to recognize both the Indo-Saracenic and the European Classical interspersed with the colonial-style bungalows, and occasionally the Neo Gothic (St. Philomena’s church). These are being swarmed by the more functional, but less aesthetic PWD-designed buildings in the present times.