Heritage buildings

Bangalore’s architectural heritage is falling victim to commercial development, imperiling the city’s historical and cultural identity.
Many old houses in St. Mark’s Road and Church Street are abandoned, and many are being razed to make space for new ones. An example is the Victoria Hotel, built in 1845 and frequented by Winston Churchill, which was leveled nine years ago to make way for a mall.

“The biggest problems are that the cost of the maintenance and the restoration of old buildings are really high, and more landowners are interested in the land value since IT firms started arriving in Bangalore,” said Pankaj Modi, a renewed architect in Bangalore who is trying to preserve the city’s historical architecture.
There are three types of designated monument in India: those protected by the central government, those protected by individual states’ architecture departments, and unprotected monuments.

“The 2010 [Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains] act that is going to implement the heritage law [enacted in 1950] is designed to better protect ancient monuments and archeological sites.” Pankaj said. “What they have done with this amended act is protect areas [with a radius of] 300 meters around the monuments, and [in areas with a radius of] 200 meters after that, everything that is built, will have to be approved.”
The law, while helping protect historical monuments such as the Taj Mahal, neglects other buildings and districts that have clear architectural value. 

Cities such as Mumbai, Kanpur and Hyderabad have drawn up their own legislation to protect architectural heritage and have provided financial assistance for that purpose. But no such moves have been taken in Karnataka, leaving its architectural inheritance completely unprotected. 
In Bangalore, old private houses are most vulnerable to being knocked down. Buildings that belong to the government are in less danger of being razed, with some of them having been restored and used to house local government organs. An example is the post office on St. Mark’s Road.
“My family and I live in a heritage building built in 1931,” said architect Chetan, the principal of the Kham Design, that builds eco-conscious buildings in Bangalore and Mysore. “Maintaining the house is not a big deal, but I feel that the most people prefer to sell their land to get money and live in an apartment. That’s because land value is increasing with the expansion of the city.” 
 

Nongovernmental organization Intach is dedicated to the conservation of India’s natural and cultural heritage and is trying to have legislation passed to protect historical areas.
In 1990, Intach submitted a request for a law to protect areas including Pete Market,  Oval Fort, Ulsoor, the Temple Settlement, Shivaginagar, Frazer & Richmond Town, Whitefield, Fort Settlement and the Nandi and Anglo-India settlements, but the move ended up being tied up in red tape. An Intach member said the group is collecting signatures from Bangaloreans for a second petition that aims to end the destruction of Bangalore’s heritage.