Kerala - Kannur   

Heritage building facing demolition

Kannur: The fate of a heritage building in Payyannur facing demolition threat is still uncertain even as conservation activists have made a fresh plea to the State government to declare the building as a protected monument.

The 98-year-old building that now houses the Registration Office and the Office of the Additional Public Prosecutor has been facing the threat of imminent demolition after the government authorities and the Payyannur municipality have identified the site where the building is located to construct a mini-civil station. The proposal for demolishing the building has drawn protests from heritage lovers whose concern has been strengthened by reports that the process of inviting tenders to demolish the structure has been under way.

The structure built in 1910 on the traditional ‘vasthu’ principle has been a witness to major events here during the freedom struggle and post-Independence period and is one of the very few historically important heritage structures here.

“The building which housed the police station during the pre-Independence period and for some years after Independence witnessed several historic incidents,” said V. Jayarajan, convener of the local chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) which represented to the authorities demanding that the building be declared a protected monument.

Citing the historical importance of the building, Dr. Jayarajan said that freedom fighters here had removed the Union Jack from the flag post of this building and hoisted the National Flag during the Quit India Movement. It was in this building that communists who had participated in the Karivellur agrarian struggle had been locked up and tortured, he added.

The INTACH local chapter has submitted its representation to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Art and Heritage Commission and the Cultural Department Secretary, among others.

Dr. Jayarajan said that following earlier representations to the authorities, the Kannur District Town Planner had prepared a report, on the basis of which the Public Works Department made a site plan that would leave the heritage building untouched.

He also referred to the Archaeology Department Director’s plea for the District Collector’s intervention to save the building. The Archaeology Director noted that the move to demolish the building was a violation of the Kerala Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1968.

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