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| Deputy Registrar's office, Rajaji salai, Chennai.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ |
Countless colonial buildings in Chennai carry heritage tag but invariably most of them need to be repaired and restored. In the last more than two decades there has been an awareness among the historians, heritage lovers and the government to preserve and restore them and reuse them. A survey conducted by the PWD covering numerous century old building except for the Hindu religious and charitable endowments revealed that 90% of them were built during colonial period. So was the residence of the royal family of Ramanathapuram. Roughly 70% of the structures are in occupation by the government and they need to be restored and conserved soon. As for the rest, 30% of them are in damaged state and their resurrection is a question mark.
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| Chennai Humayn Mahal (Chepauk palace) timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ |
Above image: Part of Chepauk Palace, Chennai. Humayn mahal Rs. 37 crore was sanctioned for restoration. It will be done with guidance experts from IIT and other institutions..........
The PWD department in Chennai that had been functioning in an old structure built under the British Raj was marked for renovation and in this connection decision was taken way back in February 2018. Quire surprising is the fact in this once colonial city and in other places across the state as many as 250 structures had been identified the PWD and they soon would get renovated and put back to old charm and splendor. The PWD which is actively involved in heritage structures and their renovation in Tamil Nadu would constitute a building center and conservation division. They and came up with an innovative proposal to restore those old structures and put them back to reuse. This novel proposal has two-fold advantage of preserving the heritage structures for posterity and at the same time carefully converting them into government offices
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| imesofindia.indiatimes.com |
In the list of heritage structures carefully prepared by the authorizes, Chennai city tops the list with 54 structures followed by Kanyakumari and Didugul districts together with 21 sites. They are followed by Pudukkotai district with 16 structures. The main purpose of the survey done by the PWD is to identify those structures that are worthy of reuse. It means saving prohibitive construction cost on modern buildings.
In 2017 when the impressive Klaus Mahal, part of the famous Cheapauk palace built by Arcot Nawab, was severely damaged by a freak fire accident. The guuted and other parts were later it was restored with meticulous care with guidance from experienced conservationists. The project was completed without affecting the heritage elements in the old palace. Offices of the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal and the inquiry commission probing former CM J Jayalalith's unexpected death. Proposal was afoot to house 6 moreoffices including office of the project director for sand operations in the renovated structure. .
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| imesofindia.indiatimes.com/ |
The PWD planned to go ahead with the conservation work on many structures in phases. The first phase of restoration would cover 12 buildings across the state inclusive of three from Chennai. As for funds the PWD approached the Tourism Department . To renovate Humayun Mahal the estimate was around Rs. 37 crore. The other two structures are the Printing Press building on the Mint street and Former deputy General of Registration on Rajaji salai in George Town. The British-rea building on the Rajaji Salai where sub-registrar's office had been functioning for decades is now an abandoned site and it will undergo conservation work soon. It may take a few years to complete the work on many structures.
