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GHMC sets up relief camps

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 05:04 administrator
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Deccan Chronicle 01.09.2009

GHMC sets up relief camps

September 1st, 2009
By Our Correspondent

Hyderabad

Aug. 31: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has set up two relief camps at Amberpet and Langerhouz where the residents of the areas were shifted as their houses were inundated due to the Monday rain.

According to the GHMC officials, storm water drains overflowed in a short span of time with 101.5 mm of heavy rain on early hours of Monday. Around 15 earth-movers, 10 tractors, 45 pumps were pressed into service apart from 500 labour to pump water out of the inundated areas.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has set up 24-hour helpline centres (040-23447518, 040-64620238) and requested the public to lodge complaints, if any, related to water supply, pollution of water and drainage overflows.

The meteorological department has forecasted heavy rain in the next 24 hours with Southwest monsoon active over the Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The director of the Hyderabad Meteorological Centre, Mr M. Satya Kumar, said the state was likely to witness heavy rains in the next few days with the possible formation of low pressure over Bay of Bengal.

 

Drive initiated to identify heritage structures in city

Monday, 31 August 2009 12:05 administrator
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Indian Express 31.08.2009

Drive initiated to identify heritage structures in city

Heritage

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has initiated a drive to identify the old heritage monuments in the city so that extra care is taken for their preservation and people visiting the city get to know more about their history.

Several old heritage buildings housing government offices are in a deplorable state.

Surat is a historic city. Before the arrival of the British, the Dutch and the Portuguese had established their business here. The East India Company had set up its office in Surat in 1612.

Many heritage buildings in Surat date back to the Colonial and the Mughal era, but they are in a bad condition due to lack of proper care.

The Surat Municipal Corporation main office is run in a Mughal Sarai building — built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan for the Haj pilgrims. A year ago, a wall and a passage had collapsed in this building.

The Surat Fort, which was built by Mohammed Tughluq on the banks of the Tapi, houses many government offices. The Dutch House, the Portuguese and the Dutch cemeteries, as also the English Factory, are in a bad condition. Worse still, the historic Gopi talao in Surat is used as a public toilet by people from the neighbouring areas.

Recently, the Municipal Corporation undertook a project to identify the heritage structures in the city. Over 2,800 heritage buildings have been identified till date and work is on the verge of completion. A book on these heritage buildings along with photographs and their history will also be published

B S Gohil, Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Surat, said: “At present, many historic buildings are occupied by government offices. We carry out repair work whenever required, but it is difficult to take care of these buildings properly, due to the presence of government offices.”

He added: “The offices should be shifted to other places and special care should be taken for the preservation of these heritage buildings.”

Municipal Commissioner S Aparna said: “Our main office functions from the Mughal Sarai building, but we do take care of the premises regularly and undertake repair work whenever required. We have sealed off several portions of the buildings and prevented entry and exit at those points, due to safety reasons.”

Last Updated on Monday, 31 August 2009 12:11
 

Save historic sites in Karnataka

Monday, 31 August 2009 05:13 administrator
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Deccan Chronicle 31.08.2009

Save historic sites in Karnataka

August 31st, 2009
By Our Correspondent

Bengaluru, Aug. 30: Few know that Visvesvaraya Towers on Ambedkdar Veedhi stands at the spot where renowned engineer and former Dewan of Mysore Sir M. Visvesvaraya’s home was once located. There is, of course, no trace of it today. It is only one of the many heritage bungalows once occupied by ordinary people and the more famous, including maharajas of old and British officers, that have disappeared from the city’s heritage map over the years to make way for newer buildings, with successive governments displaying little vision in the matter of protecting historical structures like Sir MV’s home.

And the process is, unfortunately, still continuing. Several buildings, some even dating back to the late 1800s, may be replaced by newer ones as their owners are finding keeping them intact an uphill task. Many are now ready to throw up their hands and call it a day as far as their old properties go as they have little support from the government in preserving them.

Several bungalows built in Bengaluru in the 1800s are European in architecture. Many of them still dot Malleswaram, Basavanagudi and Chamarajpet. But increasingly, they are being sold or demolished to make way for new structures.

“Maintaining 100-year-old structures is not an easy task, especially when there is no support from the government. If these structures have to be saved, the government must take urgent steps to identify them and help in renovation,” says veteran historian Dr Suryanath Kamath.

“Why are people only now making a hue and cry over felling of trees and the likely harm to heritage structures due to the Metro rail and widening of roads, when the alignment of these projects was made public a long time ago?” he asks.

Ganachari M., a senior citizen from Basavanagudi, says it will be a sorry day when Bengaluru, which has already lost many of its lakes and avenue trees, says goodbye to the last of its heritage structures. “Modernisation and protection of monuments must go hand in hand,” he points out.

 
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