Restoration of city’s heritage structures proceeding at snail’s pace

The restoration of Victoria public hall, Ripon Building, Kalas Mahal and several old colonial structures are either crying for attention or the restoration has been proceeding at a snail’s pace. The State and the Centre have done very little to protect the heritage properties, fume activists. 

According to Secretariat sources, the acute shortage of funds is an issue affecting the restoration of old colonial buildings. When contacted, PWD officials said that the Kalas Mahal has been restored up to 95 per cent after the fire accident in 2012. However, the situation with Victoria Public hall, continues to be an eyesore. 

“During my tenure as Chennai mayor, separate funds were allotted for the restoration of both Ripon buildings and Victoria public hall respectively, but the process continues to remain incomplete even after nine years,” said former mayor M Subramanian. “Central Chennai abounds in heritage structures maintained by government bodies and trusts. However, many of them are in a deep financial mess and the State has neither intervened nor has it an action plan to protect the ageing buildings,” social activist Arani Sreenivasan, who stays in Egmore, said. Educational buildings constructed by Pachayaippa Mudaliar and Chengalvaraya Naicker should also be helped by the government through some funds under protection of monuments, he added. The best advice to protect the monuments is to have a heritage management in place. And the restoration works of such projects takes months and years, opined S Thiruparasundari, conservation professional. Opposite to Ripon buildings, the mudaliar choultry has been restored and Kalas Mahal has witnessed restoration. Heritage management is not just about funds, it is about putting these structures back to public usage, so that they are preserved, Thiruparasundari said, adding that there are dozens of heritage buildings in Chennai crying for attention. 

When contacted, a senior State official said small repairs and restoration changes have been periodically carried out by local bodies and other government departments at a cost of more than Rs 7 crore since 2010. There is no proper policy and funding pattern for structures making the restoration a slow-paced project, the official admitted.