'Plan keeping heritage status of city in mind'

As there is a pending proposal to declare the world famous Amba Vilas Palace as a monument, the heritage tag of the city should to be taken into count before mooting any plans towards the development of the city, advised heritage expert N S Rangaraju, on Wednesday.

Participating in a meeting convened by former Mysuru and Kodagu MP A H Vishwanath to elicit the opinions from prominent citizens, for the development of the city, Rangaraju, retired Archaeology professor from UoM alluded at the possibilities of the Palace getting the monumental tag as it had completed 100 years, as per the National Mission for Antiques Conservation Act, Archaeological Survey of India.

Rangaraju said, if the Palace is declared as a monument, all the new age buildings in the immediate vicinity, which have mushroomed from 1996 onwards, will have to be cleared. According to the ASI rules, no buildings can be constructed within the 100 metres radius of any monument. However, in the case of Palace, the only modern building is Garuda Mall, a public-private-partnership venture. The KSRTC city bus stand abutting the Palace will also have to be shifted.

Rangaraju also brought it to the notice of the meeting that till 2012, a total of 20 cities including Mysuru and Srirangapatna had been declared as heritage cities.

Three prominent roads like - K R Boulevard road (from Oriental Research Institute towards Law Court’s complex), Mysore Race Club Road and Sayyaji Rao road, were also considered, as the buildings on these roads date back to the rule of erstwhile Wadiyar’s of Mysuru.

Former Mayor B K Prakash advocated that new outfalls for sewage line connecting the treatment plants be laid, while the president of Mysore Industries Association P Vishwanath batted for exclusive industrial township authority, and the improvement of the condition of existing roads in the industrial areas. Chandrappa from J P Nagar wanted the local authorities to check encroachments at Dalvoy Lake.

 The suggestions were later mailed to the Chief Minister’s office in Bengaluru.