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Changing landscapes

Preserve old structures. When that becomes impossible, at least document them

SLICES OF HISTORY Cry for attention PHOTOS: K. ANANTHAN

Compared to cities with a hoary past like Thanjavur and Madurai, Coimbatore is a newfound land — a city with a beautiful setting and home to a cosmopolitan people.

A place and its people are defined by the culture they live in. And, one place where a city's culture is reflected is in its buildings and structures. That way, many Coimbatore buildings have a British air about them, a hangover from the Raj.

It is vital to study these buildings that are connected to Coimbatore's making and protect them. For the next few weeks, let us study and get to know the magnificent heritage structures of our city that still exist.

Fast vanishing

We still see some beautiful houses in many parts of our city and many in the old town area. But they are fast vanishing. Today, Coimbatore's economy is sprinting after more than a decade of sluggishness. While we must celebrate this, it is also important to have a long-term view of things. If one were to travel to any part of Europe, the first thing that strikes the eye is how old buildings have been preserved and adapted to modern needs. They co-exist with modern buildings and life. Changes are unavoidable in a developing society, but it is necessary to ensure that they do not affect the core values of a society. Heritage structures portray our past and it is important to protect them.

If the panda, Indian tiger, the Amazon forests and our rivers have to be saved to safeguard the biosphere, it will not be wrong to ensure that period buildings are also preserved to protect the socio-cultural biosphere.

Man realised the importance of natural resources like water only after he almost destroyed rivers and water bodies and faced scarcity. But some of our heritage is still left; it is time to wake up and work out ways of conserving it.

Laws have been framed in Delhi and Mumbai to preserve heritage structures and they might be used nationally some day. But, it might be too late.

Raja street is now void of its palace, the fort in Kottai medu has vanished, the historical Gandhi Irvin stadium has been demolished, the house where the first Finance Minister lived has been brought down and a building used to house the last band of British Indian soldiers who fought Tipu Sultan was just brought down. It is unreasonable to suggest that all structures of the past be preserved; but ways have to be found to retain noteworthy ones. Else, what the next generation will get to read about them only in textbooks.

Smart moves

Across the world, including our country, people have hit upon smart ways to preserve heritage buildings and put them to commercial use. They have been converted into museums, boutique hotels, lifestyle stores, corporate offices ... Not only are the structures preserved, the owners also get some return on their investment. When it becomes impossible to protect a crumbling building, we can at least document it through photography and architectural drawings.

Developers who reuse the land where these structures existed can name the proposed buildings after the lost structures or its owners and put up written material and photographs about what it used to look like.

That way, the link to the past won't be lost.

(Readers can write in about heritage structures in Coimbatore and those that we have lost. E-mail feedback to cbemetro@thehindu.co.in with `heritage in the subject line).

SHANKAR VANAVARAYAR

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