Every Bengalurean knows our heritage is in danger. Non-monumental heritage – old bungalows, hostels, government offices, clubs and other such structures, rather than monuments like palaces, forts or temples – is fast disappearing.
In 2015, we could finally put a number to that loss. That year, a resurvey of 823 iconic buildings that had first been listed in 1985 by INTACH found that only 354 were still standing. As per this sample, we had lost more than 50% of built heritage in 30 years. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most of that had happened in the last 15 years or so.
There are several reasons for this. Prime among them is indifference and deliberate damage by the government. The most egregious abuse happened almost 18 years ago when the S.M. Krishna government dissolved the Bangalore Urban Arts Commission (BUAC). Until then, building bylaws mandated that licences for buildings along several roads and in certain areas, including near Cubbon Park, N.R. Square, M.N. Krishna Rao Park, Victoria Hospital and Lalbagh, had to be obtained as per BUAC’s guidelines. When the BUAC was disbanded, JCBs moved in and we witnessed the steady destruction of our built heritage.
In the midst of wilful disregard, BDA’s draft Revised Masterplan 2031 released in 2017 came like a Christmas gift. For the first time, the masterplan included an entire section on heritage buildings, precincts, and heritage regulations, accompanied by a list of buildings that the government itself considered heritage. Certainly there were lacunae, but this was a giant leap forward for the city’s heritage. However, the RMP has not yet been approved because of a stay against it.
Meera Iyer is convenor, INTACH Bengaluru chapter
At the central government level, the 2014 amendment to the Companies Act that made ‘protection of national heritage’ a legitimate activity under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has led to two government-owned heritage buildings being restored in Bengaluru with CSR-funding. In future, we hope to see more of this happening. But even as we cheered the updated CSR rules, there came the regressive amendment of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (or AMASR Act) to allow public infrastructure to be built within 100 metres of protected monuments.
The problem is that many in power still labour under the old-fashioned and false dichotomy of development versus heritage. Administrators need to move from viewing heritage as anti-development to recognising that heritage contributes to citizens’ quality of life and also has potential economic value. Mumbai’s Colaba and Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, for example, are intrinsic to the ethos of those cities, generate immense economic activity and also have valued public spaces.
In Bengaluru, successive tourism vision groups have talked heritage but not changed either mindsets or things on the ground. Spectacular buildings near Avenue Road and Commercial Street, and in Basavanagudi, Malleswaram and Richmond Town continue to languish and crumble. Compare this with New York City: that mecca of modernity has 565 properties that are declared historic and an additional 116 properties that are declared landmarks. Compare this with Rajasthan, where the State government has for years been supporting private owners of heritage properties with various incentives, including waiving property taxes. Or Kerala, where the State is working on restoration of both public and private heritage properties in Muziris. Or Puducherry, where the administration has declared several government buildings as heritage and actively works with groups that restore both homes and public buildings.
But one major development in the last decade: as the government behaves more and more like a real estate developer, people have stepped up for heritage. In 2014, when the government wanted to raze the government guest house Balabrooie, it was people who stopped it with the massive Save Balabrooie movement. Later that year, citizens protested and successfully scrapped a proposal to demolish 18 heritage markets in the city. Four years later, people wrote to the government protesting the plan to demolish the 85-year-old Janatha Bazaar on K.G. Road, and INTACH filed a PIL to save the building. More recently, a storm of protests has greeted the planned construction of a seven-storey building in or near Cubbon Park.
Alongside, there is soaring interest in the city’s history as people become more connected with the past around them. Ten years ago, people looked askance when we spoke of heritage in Bengaluru. Today, our heritage walks are overflowing, and heritage walk operators are thriving. Several community groups like Malleswaram Social, Whitefield Rising, Revival Heritage Hub, Inscription Stones of Bangalore and others have sprung up, with heritage as their main focus.
We know from other cities that to save our heritage, we need heritage regulations, financial support from the government and community involvement. Communities are already getting invested in heritage. Surely then, we are on the cusp of change and can look forward to a future with a past.
