Chamarajanagar district admin to identify heritage sites for conservation

MYSURU: Two decades after the formation of Chamarajanagar district, the administration has initiated the process to identify heritage sites around major towns and city, along with kalyanis and temples located deep inside forest areas in the region.
Deputy commissioner M R Ravi has constituted a heritage committee comprising structural engineers, architects and archaeology department officials to identify such sites and list them so that projects could be devised to preserve and promote them for future generations.
The committee will be headed by deputy commissioner and the members include structural engineer Dr Syed Shakeeb-ur -Rahaman; architect Sunil Nayak; environmentalist Dr B Manojkumar; theatre personality K Venkataraju; heritage expert C P Hucchegowda; JSS College, department of botany, assistant professor Gayatridevi; assistant professor of history K S Mariswamy, department of archaeology, museums and heritage deputy director Nirmala Mathapati; Urban Development Authority planning director K Suresh; CMC commissioner Rajanna, Urban Development Authority commissioner Pankaja and Archeology Survey of India official Rangaiah, said sources.
The committee will provide all necessary information from time to time to the district administration for the conservation of all cultural sites to ensure its sustainable development.
Sources said the documenting and mapping of monuments gains significance at a time when several structures are being encroached. “Many of the heritage components are facing neglect. The exercise will help consolidate both the protected and the unprotected structures and help in their conservation in the long term,” they added.
The exercise will also help demarcate the boundary of the land and the precincts where the monument is located and help the department establish its hold over the area which is not the case at present in many spots.
“The committees plays crucial role in conservation of such spots. The mapping exercise also provides information on their current status whether they have been encroached, neglected,” said Dr Syed Shakeeb Ur Rahman, structural engineer and member of the committee.
Apart from mapping, documenting and updating the list, the committee ascertains their present status by field visits and physical verification, he said.