The Hindu : `Govt. decisions a threat to heritage'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 02, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

`Govt. decisions a threat to heritage'

By Feroze Ahmed

A view of the Queen Mary's College for women in Chennai. - Photo: N. Sridharan

CHENNAI APRIL 1. Two recent government decisions on the new Secretariat project would spell doom not only for the Queen Mary's College, but also for the Marina shoreline and the State capital's rich heritage.

Apparently to facilitate construction of a grand new Secretariat on the college site, the State has, on the one hand, asked the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority to amend its development control rules (DCR) to allow construction of multi-storey buildings along the Marina and on the other hand, it has refused, for now, an amendment to the DCR, proposed by the authority, to protect heritage buildings in the city, say senior officials of the CMDA, nodal agency for the project.

The DCR currently prohibits construction of multi-storey buildings on the stretch from the QMC to the Napier Bridge. A reversal of rules would threaten the already fragile ecological balance of the Marina and the row of heritage buildings, as it would set the stage for construction of more multistorey buildings along the shoreline, say town planning experts.

On the heritage front, the Government has returned the CMDA proposal to amend the DCR, which sought to prevent modifications, disfigurations or demolitions of heritage buildings without the Authority's approval, asking it to get the concurrence of owners and heads of departments occupying heritage buildings.

As the buildings on the threatened QMC site are part of the CMDA heritage list, keeping the proposed amendment in suspension would mean one less hassle for the Government in demolishing the college. Worse, it would make other heritage buildings in the city vulnerable to such projects, say conservationists.

The Housing Minister, Anitha R.Radhakrishnan, refused to confirm the developments, but said "an announcement would be made in the Assembly in two or three days".

"For any information on this, you will have to ask the Chief Minister," he said, which indicates the importance and secrecy accorded to the project so much so that even officials of the Housing and Urban Development department in the Secretariat, under which the CMDA comes, claim they were not informed of the developments.

Town planning experts protest saying that any amendment to the DCR would have to be proposed by the CMDA, brought up in the Cabinet, gazetted and public objection sought with at least a month's time. But the Government has apparently done away with the procedure.

While architects and town planners agree that the State needs a new Secretariat, they warn that the proposed site along the Marina would prove catastrophic. The Government should alternative consider sites such as the Trade Fair Grounds or the MGR Film City.

Student protests

The recent decisions have come despite protests from Government teachers, QMC students and alumni, and organisations such as the Students Federation of India and the All-India Democratic Students Organisation.

In a statement, the AIDSO says the proposal to "demolish such a historical institution shows a glaring insensitivity to all that is of value to modern human civilisation".

It has also called students "to build a powerful movement, forming struggle committees, involving teachers and the public, until the Government withdraws this anti-people and anti-education decision".

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