Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The observatory in Kannuru, part of the The Great Trigonometric Survey(GTS) carried out by the East India Company in the 1800, was razed early Sunday morning. People familiar with the matter said the incident likely occurred around 3.30 am. Meera Iyer, the convenor of INTACH Bengaluru Chapter that restored the relic in 2021, said unknown persons in a backhoe loader razed the stone structure.
“We heard that a JCB came in and razed the building,” Iyer told DH.
“As far as we know, it was a government land. The landowner also says it is government land. We took permission from the revenue survey department to restore it.”
In an article written for the DH in 2021, Iyer wrote that the INTACH Bengaluru Chapter began restoring the structure after receiving permission from the state government and financial support from Uma Raghavan, a Bengalurean who resides in the US. The restoration was completed sometime in October that year, Iyer said.
She said that they have yet to file a police complaint and were contemplating the sort of legal action to be taken next.