The Hindu                  18.04.2013

More heritage buildings to be added to second list

The second draft list of heritage buildings in the Chennai Metropolitan Area will be completed in 2013-2014.

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is in the process of readying the list, which will comprise buildings to be protected and conserved.

The CMDA has already approved a first list of 67 such buildings compiled by the heritage conservation committee (HCC).

The second list will have many more buildings, officials said.

-More than half of the structures/precincts that figure on the first list are government buildings.

Once the list has been completed, the CMDA will invite property owners and explain the significance of these structures to them, with the help of documents that prove their heritage value and significance.

The CMDA will then send the list, along with its recommendations and recorded objections, to the State government for notification.

After the notification of a building as a heritage structure, the onus of repair and maintenance will be on the property owners.

The owners will be forbidden from demolishing the structures but will be asked to repair the structures themselves, officials said.