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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Photo Essay: Preserving the past
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Photo Essay: Preserving the past

The collapse of the Mairie building in Puducherry brings into focus the sorry state of heritage architecture in the Union territory

The foundation of this 19th century lighthouse was laid in 1835. Before it was built, there was no signal system for ships coming to Puducherry. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/MintPremium
The foundation of this 19th century lighthouse was laid in 1835. Before it was built, there was no signal system for ships coming to Puducherry. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

On 12 September, while presenting the budget, the chief minister of Puducherry allocated 80 crore for renovating 18 government-owned heritage buildings in the Union territory. These include the Old Lighthouse, old court building, police headquarters, VOC school, Pensionnat De Jeunes Filles, Soucilabai school, Calve College Government Higher Secondary School and the Indian Coffee House.

The announcement came at a time when delay in the implementation of heritage conservation projects was being attributed to a paucity of funds.

On 29 November, the 144-year-old Mairie (Town Hall) building, seat of the municipal administration in the French era, collapsed during heavy rain even though Intach (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) had begun restoration work on it a week before. The restoration work, sanctioned under the Project Implementation Agency (PIA) of the Puducherry government, with 7.5 crore in aid from the World Bank, had started only after funds from the latter came in. The Mairie was not on the list of 18 heritage buildings.

After it’s collapse, people across Puducherry began demanding restoration of such buildings to preserve the Union territory’s unique Franco-Tamil heritage. One such initiative is People for Pondicherry’s Heritage, a citizens’ group comprising over 50 residents of Puducherry and Auroville.

The group wants four high-risk structures—the Old Lighthouse, VOC school, Calve College and the Pensionnat De Jeune Fille—to be reinforced first. “This is our immediate focus as these buildings are in a much worse condition, and Intach has been asking for their restoration for at least the last five years. Three of them are Puducherry’s old schools, and we would like to do everything possible to make sure that they don’t end up collapsing before they can be restored," says Kakoli Banerjee, founder of the group. They have met the governor, the chief minister, the education minister and the art and culture secretary. Banerjee says they were assured that steps would be initiated to restore these buildings.

“These buildings should have been maintained long ago. We are demanding individual technical assessment of the buildings. We have contacted experts across the country and will bring them in as and when needed. We are now planning a strategy to bring all this to the attention of the Union government and its appropriate ministries in Delhi. Without its heritage character, Puducherry is nothing," says Banerjee.

After the Mairie incident, the Puducherry government requested the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Chennai Circle, to inspect the four structures. It also asked the public works department (PWD) to assess the stability of 18 buildings classified as heritage structures. The PWD submitted its report to the government on Thursday, but the details are not available.

The inspection team representing ASI, Chennai, and IIT-M visited the Mairie and three government schools. They are yet to submit a report.

“We still don’t know very clearly what happened. It was an unexpected collapse. One thing we know for sure is that the Mairie didn’t have any foundation problem. All we know by now is that the wall was being deplastered and the removal of the plaster triggered the collapse. This is very unusual. The debris hasn’t been removed from the building yet, so we haven’t been able to analyse the wall," says Arun Menon, assistant professor, department of civil engineering, IIT-M. The team will check if there are any structural similarities with the three schools.

“The problem in all the heritage buildings is the lack of maintenance and unwanted vegetation growth. Banyan and neem trees have grown and their roots are penetrating the buildings," says S. Rajendiran, deputy superintending archaeological engineer, ASI, Chennai, who is part of the inspection team.

Three years back a report by the ASI, Chennai and IIT-M had warned the government about the dire state of the heritage buildings, in particular the Mairie. Built in 1870-71, the Mairie housed the mayor’s office and functioned for over a century as the hub of municipal administration till 2012. The building had been vacated for restoration work.

“It was a tragedy that could have been averted. Even though the report said action should be taken immediately, we had to wait for two years because of funding issues. It’s unfortunate that when we finally received the funds, and the restoration work had started, the building collapsed," says Intach co-convenor Ashok Panda.

According to Panda, there are 550 listed heritage buildings—private- and government-owned. “We have listed close to 30 government heritage buildings, out of which seven or eight are in bad shape and need urgent restoration. The future course of action will be decided based on the report by the ASI and IIT-M team," says Panda, adding that they are trying to get French expertise to see if these buildings can be restored.

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Published: 16 Jan 2015, 07:34 PM IST
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