Faced with opposition from some tenants of the century-old Devaraja Market over its reconstruction, the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) is hoping for a sizeable allocation in the forthcoming State Budget even as it expressed confidence of vacating a stay on the renovation.
“Some tenants had moved the court and got a stay against the reconstruction of the market. We will try to vacate the stay at the earliest to facilitate reconstruction, which, according to experts, is the only alternative,” said MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha.
Speaking to The Hindu on Saturday, Mr. Jagadeesha said the technical committee, after a study, recommended the demolition of the market building to facilitate reconstruction after one of the portions of the structure collapsed during renovation. The repair work has been halted since.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had inspected the market following the incident and had suggested complying with the technical committee’s viewpoint.
The renovation of Lansdowne Building, another century-old structure, was also halted soon after the market incident. This building has been out of bounds to its tenants for over four years after a portion collapsed on August 25, 2012 killing four persons.
The commissioner said the MCC had submitted a proposal to the CM seeking budgetary allocation of ₹80 crore and ₹30 crore for the reconstruction of Devaraja Market and Lansdowne Building. He said the expert committee had also recommended razing Lansdowne Building since it had become weak and could not withstand any more repairs.
The government had allocated ₹9 crore for the renovation of Devaraja Market and ₹6 crore for the makeover of Lansdowne Building. The tenants of Lansdowne building had moved out and the building was locked up to ensure its restoration soon after the incident. It had been notified as a ‘heritage building’, invoking the provisions of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961.
The MCC had earlier resolved to conserve the building without disturbing the original architecture and dropped its earlier plan of partial demolition. As many as 97 tenants – most of them stationery and bookstore owners, apart from some advocates and DTP centre owners – had been affected by the closure. Around 57 tenants had been running their businesses for over four years from makeshift shops set up opposite the heritage building.
