The undue delay in the renovation of the famed century-old Town Hall — Sri Rangacharulu Memorial Hall — has displeased the seven-member Town Hall Management Committee, which comprises citizens from various fields.
The committee expressed its displeasure over the slow pace of implementation, here on Saturday. The tender for the project was awarded to a Secunderabad-based contractor on April 29, 2011 for Rs. 17.66 crore.
‘Only 30 p.c. completed’Committee president Chennappa, who reviewed the works and later chaired a meeting with the engineers of Mysore City Corporation (MCC), told The Hindu that “only 30 per cent of the work had been completed”.
“As per the agreement reached between the MCC and the contractor, the work should have been completed in 12 months: April 28, 2012. But, the work has remained unfinished despite our reminders,” he said.
Even as Dasara festivities are approaching, the work has lacked momentum.
Town Hall, a prominent centre for cultural activities for many decades, has been out of bounds for the last three years.
“The MCC officials give unconvincing replies when questioned about the delay. They claim to have issued notices to the contractor and have sought speeding up of the work,” according Mr. Chennappa.
The beautification of Town Hall and its surroundings includes creating parking facilities in the basement, an 1,000-seat capacity open air theatre , landscaping of the entire area, development of the park, illumination, and rainwater harvesting.
New chairs were procured but have not been installed. The work on strengthening the outside walls of the heritage structure is in progress.
The building’s caretaker, MCC, restored the exteriors a few years ago.
The area around the iconic Mysore palace and Town Hall has been identified as a ‘core heritage zone’.
The Standing Committee on City Planning and Development, MCC, at its meeting on June 26, had given time to the contractor till August this year to complete the work.
MCC Commissioner P.G. Ramesh was unavailable for comment.
