The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Heritage conservation centre to come up

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Monday, Feb 04, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Heritage conservation centre to come up

The centre in OU will offer courses in conservation architecture

HYDERABAD: A full-fledged centre of excellence for heritage conservation for preserving heritage buildings in the Deccan plateau is coming up at University College of Engineering (UCE), Osmania University.

Apart from providing technical expertise, the centre will conduct certificate, diploma and post-graduate courses in conservation architecture.

To mobilise interested persons and prepare a framework for such a centre, a three-day workshop on ‘Conservation of Heritage Buildings’ was organised on Friday at UCE.

The upcoming centre will train architects on the technical aspects of handling conservation of heritage buildings.

Talks with University of Edinburgh are under way to start such a centre at Osmania University.

“The Deccan plateau is rich in heritage structures. It was high time a centre to train engineers on conservation was started. This centre will work relentlessly to protect the Deccan heritage,” said University Vice-Chancellor Suleman Siddiqui.

Certificate, diploma and post-graduate courses will be offered from the next academic year, informed Principal of UCE D. N. Reddy. “The existing conservation architects in Hyderabad are inexperienced. They don’t have knowledge on technical details like the material used in that era. The conservation field needs skilled engineers and this centre could help achieve that,” said noted conservation architect Sajjad Shaheed at the workshop.

The university officials have also decided to approach World Monuments Fund (WMF) to restore the Koti Women’s College or the Residency Building. Already, a thorough ‘blueprint’ on the aspect of structural stability was sent to WMF for funding.

Temporary repairs

A few years ago, the WMF had removed the Residency Building from its ‘heritage list’ due to the slow progress of conservation work and the inability of the authorities to utilise WMF funds fully.

“Temporary repairs are still going on in the building. By rough estimates, it would take Rs. 6 to 8 crore to take up structural stability works,” university authorities said.

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