[Reader-list] DECLARE R.K. NARAYAN'S HOUSE AS 'HERITAGE' MONUMENT: MCC

[Dr. Reyhan Chaudhuri]

What a blessing that R.K. Narayan's home with the lovely garden and trees, has been saved for the time being!
I had the fortune to see him (especially on his walks) and meet him -when he still lived there, having resided there as a student in the 1980's.
Ofcourse this is a different kind of heritage from the conventional 'tourist' kind but a treasured heritage nevertheless and needs to be preserved for the coming generation...
Thank God for people like Hon.Raikar (and Prof Belliappa) ,who still exist in our country  and their timely thought and action.
Yours Sincerely,
R.Chaudhuri
(~a 'heritage-loving'  teacher)

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> Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 13:49:50 +0530
> From: yanivbin at gmail.com
> To: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net; reader-list at sarai.net; notes at lists.maraa.in; citizens-action-forum at googlegroups.com; hasiruusiru at yahoogroups.com; hu_governance at googlegroups.com
> Subject: [Reader-list] DECLARE R.K. NARAYAN'S HOUSE AS 'HERITAGE' MONUMENT:	MCC
> 
> http://starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=news&item=29571
> 
> 
>   DECLARE R.K. NARAYAN'S HOUSE AS 'HERITAGE' MONUMENT: MCC
> 
> *SOM effect: Demolition stayed*
> 
> Mysore, Sept. 6 (KK&KMC)- The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) has sought help
> from the Heritage Department and the Kannada & Culture Department to declare
> the house of legendary novelist R.K. Narayan in Yadavagiri here as a
> Heritage Monument, provide financial assistance for buying the house and
> take up measures for the building's conservation and development as a
> museum.
> 
> It has also urged the Urban Development Department to introduce a Heritage
> Tax on all such properties with heritage value so that the MCC can identify
> and protect them.
> 
> At a meeting of officials held at the MCC Commissioner’s office this
> morning, MCC Commissioner K.S. Raikar said that the demolition had been
> stopped yesterday itself and a show-cause notice had been issued to MCC
> Assistant Commissioner Thimmappa for permitting to demolish the house.
> 
> "There are many such assets in the city with heritage value that are in
> private ownership," he said and felt the need for resources to preserve them
> for posterity.
> 
> "R.K. Narayan’s house has not yet been declared as a heritage monument," he
> said, adding that he had written to the Heritage Commissioner to officially
> demarcate such assets as "heritage" so that their sale or demolition can be
> checked by MCC. "If not, there is no provision in the law to prevent
> builders from buying and rebuilding on such properties," Raikar added.
> 
> *Demolition stayed*
> 
> Meanwhile, the MCC has stayed the demolition of the house where R.K. Narayan
> lived and penned his literary masterpieces for more than 20 years.
> 
> The authorities concerned, reacting positively to the report published in
> Star of Mysore yesterday, halted the demolition work that had commenced
> yesterday morning. A builder who bought the House No. 15 on Vivekananda Road
> from R.K. Narayan's heirs — granddaughter Bhuvaneshwari aka Minni living in
> Chennai and grandson Srinivasa living in the US — intended to replace the
> two-storey house on a 120’x 80’ site with an eight-apartment building.
> 
> The timely intervention of MCC Commissioner K.S. Raikar — based on the
> report in SOM which served as an eye-opener — prevented the building from
> being fully demolished by the workers. Following his orders, Chowdegowda,
> Joint Director of the Town Planning Wing, MCC, visited the spot in the
> evening and directed the contractor to stop the demolition work till further
> orders. The contractor told the officials that necessary clearance and
> permission had been secured from the MCC. However, the officials directed
> him to withdraw his workers from the site till further orders.
> 
> Raikar told SOM this morning that a report about the house and the proposal
> to conserve it as a heritage monument will be sent to the Heritage
> Department. "I will also speak to the Heritage Commissioner about the
> proposal. The heritage department is exclusively set up to deal with such
> cases. MCC cannot take the ultimate decision in this regard. Besides,
> resources have to be mobilised," he said.
> 
> The engineers at the spot said even if the MCC had issued permission to
> demolish the house, it could be withdrawn and the building license issued to
> construct the apartment cancelled.
> 
> Prof. K.C. Belliappa, former VC of Rajiv Gandhi University, Itana-gar and a
> resident of Mysore, who knew Narayan personally, opined that the house
> should be preserved and converted into a museum. "It should be seen as a
> slice of heritage and not as a piece of real estate," he said.
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