The museum dedicated to the city's founder Kempegowda has remained shut for the past two months even as various authorities claim that the museum does not come under their purview.
The Kempegowda museum was set up at Mayo Hall on M.G. Road in 2011 by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said the civic body is not the custodian of the museum. He maintained that the museum comes under the purview of the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Development Authority.
The authority, which was constituted in 2016, has not met in years. According to Yelahanka MLA S.R. Vishwanath, who is one of the members of the authority, one meeting was convened soon after constitution of the authority. “No meeting was convened after that. The government seems to have forgotten all about Kempegowda and the authority,” he charged.
The museum was proposed to be shifted to Bangalore University's Jnana Bharati campus. Though the foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of Kempegowda Research Centre at Jnana Bharati was performed a couple of years ago, there has been no progress since then, pointed out A.H. Basavaraju, former councillor.
He told The Hindu that the museum houses several artefacts, old maps of the city and other items that are historically significant. “There was undue delay in even the decision to shift the museum to Bangalore University. This only points to the lack of interest in preserving the city's history by the ruling dispensation in the BBMP council and government,” he charged.
The varsity's Vice Chancellor K.R. Venugopal said the proposal to construct the Kempegowda Research Centre on three acres adjacent to the administrative block would soon be sent to the Cabinet for approval. The project proposal for ₹100 crore has been prepared. Once approved by the Cabinet, a tender would be floated by the BBMP, he said and added that the civic body had already set aside ₹50 crore a couple of years ago.
However, amidst these developments, there is no clarity on whether the museum at Mayo Hall will be opened to the public any time soon.
