Thirty years ago on June 1, 1985, Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran made a decision to pull down the fire-ravaged Moore Market after a visit to the heritage premises. The reportedly controversial decision, however, paved the way for the growth of Chennai Central as a multimodal transit hub in the city. Although much water has flowed down the Cooum, similar conflicts between managing the needs of heritage structures and modern infrastructure continue in the locality.
A few weeks before the major fire accident on May 30, The Hindu ’s report dated May 7 said the former Southern Railway General Manager M.K. Jain had appealed to the State government to hand over the Moore Market Complex to the Railways to develop the area into a modern suburban terminal. Reports in the broadsheet following the fire pointed to traders alleging “official sabotage to make us vacate the building and hand it over to the Railways.”
According to Corporation records, traders of 527 shops in the complex were paying Rs. 150 per month and 300 small traders were paying a rent of Rs. 30. As many as 72 book stalls were gutted, but the value of the antique books has not yet been estimated in commercial terms. A number of foreigners, historians and litterateurs used to search for the priceless treasure of antique books in the Indo-Saracenic style complex which was inaugurated on November 30, 1900.
Even as protests by traders in the heritage building mounted, Local Administration Minister P.U. Shanmugham ruled out sabotage, claiming that the decision to hand over the land to the Railways was actually taken by the DMK regime.
Discounting the voice of a few traders who demanded reconstruction of the heritage building, the Chennai Corporation started reclamation of Lily Pond for construction of temporary shops within a few days of the fire.
By June 15, The Hindu reported that “the Moore Market Merchants Association decided to accept an ex-gratia payment of Rs. 2000 offered by the State government to licensed shops.” Infrastructure received priority, heritage was discounted.
The recent decision of Chennai Corporation to develop a People’s Park depicting the heritage of the city by demolishing 25 architecturally- incompatible buildings on the premises of Ripon Buildings is likely to be delayed or even shelved owing to Metrorail project in the area. As metrorail has the highest degree of civic utility for residents, heritage may be the loser this time too.
It’s been 30 years since the decision was made to tear down the blaze-ravaged but heritage-rich Moore Market
A few weeks before the major fire accident on May 30, The Hindu ’s report dated May 7 said the former Southern Railway General Manager M.K. Jain had appealed to the State government to hand over the Moore Market Complex to the Railways to develop the area into a modern suburban terminal. Reports in the broadsheet following the fire pointed to traders alleging “official sabotage to make us vacate the building and hand it over to the Railways.”
According to Corporation records, traders of 527 shops in the complex were paying Rs. 150 per month and 300 small traders were paying a rent of Rs. 30. As many as 72 book stalls were gutted, but the value of the antique books has not yet been estimated in commercial terms. A number of foreigners, historians and litterateurs used to search for the priceless treasure of antique books in the Indo-Saracenic style complex which was inaugurated on November 30, 1900.
Even as protests by traders in the heritage building mounted, Local Administration Minister P.U. Shanmugham ruled out sabotage, claiming that the decision to hand over the land to the Railways was actually taken by the DMK regime.
Discounting the voice of a few traders who demanded reconstruction of the heritage building, the Chennai Corporation started reclamation of Lily Pond for construction of temporary shops within a few days of the fire.
By June 15, The Hindu reported that “the Moore Market Merchants Association decided to accept an ex-gratia payment of Rs. 2000 offered by the State government to licensed shops.” Infrastructure received priority, heritage was discounted.
The recent decision of Chennai Corporation to develop a People’s Park depicting the heritage of the city by demolishing 25 architecturally- incompatible buildings on the premises of Ripon Buildings is likely to be delayed or even shelved owing to Metrorail project in the area. As metrorail has the highest degree of civic utility for residents, heritage may be the loser this time too.
It’s been 30 years since the decision was made to tear down the blaze-ravaged but heritage-rich Moore Market
No comments:
Post a Comment