JOIN USDid adamancy on the part of the shopkeepers and apathy of Mysore City Corporation (MCC) lead to the incident.
Yes it’s true if going by the developments preceding the mishap. Lansdowne Building earlier known as Lansdowne Bazaar was dedicated on November 10, 1892. The building was constructed in commemoration of the visit of then viceroy Lansdowne. For the first few years it was maintained by Public Works department and later handed over to the local body. It has 97 shops in total selling stationery materials, offering DTP services, having juice shops and other shops functioning in the structure.
When the MCC council had resolved to renovate the building along with other heritage structures like Devaraja Market, Vani Vilasa and Mandi Markets, some among the tenants had moved court. They had also succeeded in bringing a stay order forcing the local body to postpone its plans.
MCC commissioner M R Ravi said following the stay order, the plans are still in abeyance. Medical education and district in-charge minister S A Ramdas said he will apprise the court about the need of the hour to repair the building in the interest of remaining tenants.
Demolition, a reason too
A shopkeeper alleged that when the previous deputy commissioner had ordered for removal of encroachments, the earth moving machines at that time damaged a portion of the building near to the same shop that caved in. It was only after other shopkeepers intervened, the operation was suspended. Even then, the mishap could not be averted.
Repair Devaraja Market
MCC Devaraja Market Tenants Association in a press release late on Saturday, have urged the authorities concerned to repair the dilapidated market structure at the earliest. Association president Pailwan S Mahadev has stated that the building should be repaired utilising Nurm funds, to avoid meeting the fate of Lansdowne building.