Several nondescript buildings which serve as keepers of centuries of history in Fort Kochi and Mattancherry lie unprotected and vulnerable to being built over or destroyed.
The Ariyittuvazhcha Kottaram in Mattancherry, the Bastion Bungalow in Fort Kochi and the St. Sebastian Church in Thoppumpady are the only three buildings that have been declared protected monuments by the State Archaeology Department. The St. Francis Church and the Mattancherry Palace were declared protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Other structures of historical value strewn across the area have been left to their fate. “Even the Paradesi Jewish synagogue, which is so popular among tourists, has not been declared protected,” said K.J. Sohan, former mayor and convenor of the INTACH Kerala chapter. “If these buildings are not declared protected, they can be pulled down or modified without considering their architectural or historical value,” he said.
It was this lack of protection that led to the destruction of the Parade Ground in Fort Kochi during the 2017 FIFA under-17 football world cup, said Mr. Sohan. Though the authorities who had allowed the world cup at the ground had said it would be restored after the games, it was left in a dilapidated state. “They spent ₹3.8 crore to raise the height of the ground and fence a portion of it. Rainwater now flows into the adjoining ASI-protected St. Francis Church,” he said.
“The Dutch, the British and the Portuguese used the ground as their barracks. When we became an independent country, the Union Jack was lowered at the parade ground in a beating-the-retreat ceremony and the Indian flag was raised,” explained Mr. Sohan.
Chinese fishing nets
Fort Kochi’s Chinese fishing nets, the technology for which the Portuguese may have brought from Macau in the early 16th century, is also threatened by the proposed water metro jetty, said Bony Thomas, writer and illustrator who is part of the Biennale team. Besides, the existing jetty, a remnant of the British period, lies in a dilapidated state close by.
Though construction is regulated 100m around the ASI-protected Mattancherry Palace, Mattancherry itself has not been declared a heritage zone. When Fort Kochi was declared a heritage zone, no study on Mattancherry’s heritage was available, said Mr. Sohan.
In Mattancherry, layers of history documenting the migrations of the Gujarati and Arab traders, Kutchi Memons, Tamils, the colonial powers and the Jews lie unprotected, said Jose Dominic, member of INTACH. The Gujarati and Konkani temples, the Kalvathy bridge and canal, which was the centre of Arab trade, and the warehouses in the bazaar are all historically significant, but have not been listed to specify what changes can or cannot be made to them.
The rafters and tiles on the roofs of several buildings in the bazaar were falling apart, said Mr. Sohan.
The Chembittapally masjid near Mattancherry, said to have been built over 600 years ago by people who migrated from Nineveh, was also an unprotected site, he said. Since they are not protected, there are no signboards that mark the historical structures in Mattancherry.
Like the Kadavumbhagam synagogue, portions of which recently collapsed, most of the buildings in the area were privately owned, which made the process of acquisition and protection tedious, said an official at the State Archaeology Department. The process to notify the synagogue as protected had been stalled since 2013 as the property was found to have been mortgaged, the official said. The centuries-old Thekkumbagham synagogue on Jew Street is also in private hands and has not been restored or protected for its historical value.
Conservation project
The Kochi Corporation’s Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (CHED) had a State-funded conservation project in the offing for the area. Pressures of development halted the project and it did not go beyond the stage of mapping some sites, said CHED director Rajan Chedambath. “Besides, the issue is tricky since much of it is private property and owners may want to rebuild rather than preserve the existing structure,” he said.
Since Fort Kochi was declared a heritage zone in 1990, regulations that require constructions to be approved by the Art and Heritage Committee under the State Town Planning Department were in place, said Mr. Sohan. “But these regulations are often flouted. Moreover, there are no detailed guidelines that specify what can or cannot be done while constructing in the area. The idea is not to fossilise the place, but make it a living museum to protect it,” he added.
Under the Smart City project, ₹30 crore has been set aside for a “Fort Kochi and Mattancherry region master plan for tourism and ₹110 crore for the redevelopment of the Broadway market and Mattancherry spice market.” “As per the project plan, guidelines are to be prepared for the area. But, the project has been handed over to the Town Planning Department which does not have the expertise to handle complicated conservation efforts. If they bring in experts, they might be able to use the funds well,” said Mr. Sohan.
