The BBMP on Thursday said the entire Cubbon Park area comprising public and semi-public buildings was a “heritage conservation zone”, as it cited the revised master plan of 2015 to throw a protective ring around the city’s lung space.
Often pulled up by courts for not following norms in approving building plans, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has decided to stick to the rule book while considering the proposal to build the Karnataka High Court Annexe building inside Cubbon Park.
BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar said they will consult the Heritage Committee in Mysuru. The decision came a day after Kumar said permission for the building plan will be issued only if it complies with zoning regulations according to the Revised Master Plan (RMP) 2015. Following a DH report on the sensitivity of the Cubbon Park area as per RMP 2015 of Gandhinagar, the BBMP chief on Thursday reviewed the map with town planning officials.
The commissioner came to the conclusion that the entire area was a heritage conservation zone.
Kumar said, “We have seen the RMP map. The building looks like a heritage structure. We have decided to submit all the records related to the land to the Heritage Committee and the Archaeological Department, seeking confirmation of its heritage status.
“If they say it is not a heritage building, we will look into our zoning regulations to see whether we can give approval for it (annexe building). If the committee says it’s a heritage site, then there is no chance to permit such construction. The committee’s approval is a priority,” he said.
Meanwhile, the BBMP’s town planning officials have been asked to collect all documents related to the building as the civic body has no idea how old the Karnataka Government Insurance Building (KGID) is. It once housed the Election Commission.
An official from the Town Planning Department said, “We have to collect all the details as the building comes within the Heritage Conservation Zone marked in RMP. Even if it is not a heritage site, there are chances that it cannot be renovated, let alone being replaced with a new building, due to its proximity to the zone.”
The official also said allowing new constructions near Vidhana Soudha or the High Court was not a good idea in terms of security as well as heritage value.
“By next week, we will
have all the details about this building to seek the views of the Archaeological Department and Heritage Committee,” he said.