Hampi history comes under PWD bulldozer In what could be the height of official insensitivity, PWD officials bulldozed a 153-year-old monument at world heritage site Hampi as if it were just another illegal structure. The structure, situated three kilometres from Hampi, at the entrance to Kamlapur, was demolished to widen the road.
The development drew flak from activists and the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority (HWHAMA), which has sought an explanation from the PWD. “It is a historic monument and is recorded in a Ph D thesis. The state government has declared monuments older than 100 years as heritage structures. But the PWD officials seem least bothered,” Dr Vishwanath Malagi, an activist, told Bangalore Mirror. The structure dates back to 1860 and is known as Dadapeer Chatra, is just three km from Hampi at Kamlapur, one of 29 villages whose historic structures come under HWHAMA’s jurisdiction. It is said to have been built by rulers who came after the Vijayanagar emperors, and was meant to be a resting point for visitors to Hampi from across the country. It comes under HWHAMA but PWD officials did not bother to take the mandatory permission from demolishing the structure. “The structure comes under the state archaeology department. An explanation has been sought from PWD. They had sought our permission to carry out road-widening work from Kondanayakanahalli to Hampi, which is a four-km stretch. But we had not given permission beyond that,” a senior HWHAMA official told Bangalore Mirror. Besides lodging a complaint with HWHAMA on June 29, activists have sought restoration of the structure, Dr Malagi said. Meanwhile, state archaeological department officials maintained they were not aware of the explanation sought by HWHAMA, adding that only a portion of the structure had been sacrificed for road widening. “No doubt, it is an ancient building but we had no other option. However, now that we have received a petition to restore it, we along with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and HWHAMA officials will decide on suitable measures,” a senior official of the state archaeology department stationed at Hampi said. http://www.indiadivine.org/content.php/1103-World-Heritage-Site-Hampi-Ruins-Flattened-by-Bulldozers-to-Widen-Road Thanks & Regards, * Sudhir Srinivasan *B.Arch, MSc.CPM, Dip.ID, Dip.CAD, Dip.PM, Dip.LD *|**** Architect**** |***** -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
