JOIN USSix heritage settlements to get a facelift
Ever imagined taking a leisurely stroll, allowing yourself the luxury of soaking in the art, heritage and culture of a heritage town or a city in Karnataka?
This is something one would experience in Tel Aviv, St Petersburg or even Venice.
Well, that’s what the State government hopes to do in six heritage settlements of Karnataka - Bidar, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Badami, Mysore and Srirangapatna.
The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) is planning to develop these settlements into ‘heritage towns/cities’ at a cost of $ 250 million (Rs 1,400 crore), where the focus will be on the overall settlement, instead of just the monuments.
The agency, which has already dabbled with a similar concept while developing a master plan for world heritage site hampi, proposes to involve the local planning or development authorities and local bodies for proper planning and implementation of the programme.
The Ministry of Urban Development has approved the project which is now before the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance for approval.
KUIDFC Managing Director Harsh Gupta told Deccan Herald that the ‘Karnataka Heritage Towns Development Programme’ would be funded mainly by the World Bank (about 70 per cent) and the rest by the State government and through fund-raising.
Fillip to tourism
Gupta said that the project would help the economic development of these cities and towns, by giving a fillip to tourism. “The old city areas have become ghettos. But once we create parks, markets, gardens, roads, pathways and congregation centers – all development activities which have direct relation to public use, we will be successful in enhancing tourism and related activities, which will create employment opportunities.”
Gupta, who hopes to start work on the project in a year’s time, said that urban planning of the old city area itself will be adopted or mimicked to develop these settlements.
“We want to encourage the concept of adaptive reuse of heritage assets among the locals and make them understand its importance, as it would help in improving their quality of life,” he said.
Heritage toolkits for city development plan and the detailed project report developed under JnNURM for Mysore would be used in these towns. A heritage resource management plan too would be prepared.