Restoration on Lalbagh Aquarium

2nd Sept 2021

Dr Jagadish

Joint Director – Horticulture, GoK

Lalbagh

Bangalore

Email: jdhpgf@gmail.com

Dear Dr Jagadish:

Subject: Request for information/update on Restoration of Historic Aquarium at Lalbagh

At the outset, thank you for all the wonderful work you and your Horticulture Team is doing across the state and particularly out two gems Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. We hope to have many opportunities to work with you and build connects and events that allow people to appreciate our city’s natural heritage better.

By the way, as I mentioned today, I had hoped that Mr. Suresh Jayaram, famous artist and historian can meet with you and present the newly published wonderful book he has recently completed on YOUR Lalbagh to you, Director and DD. He has presented the first copy to Mr. RK Kataria, Secretary – Horticulture just yesterday and he wanted to present the second set to you and the team.

I wanted to check with you regarding the historical but sadly dilapidated Aquarium. I am sure you are doing all you can but do please share in some detail what are the plans for this, focus to restore it and how if anything, we can help you as citizens.

We are always happy to support our magnificent Lalbagh, Cubbon Park (and the pretty adjacent Musical Fountain Park). Please let us know if there is anything that is needed.

Thanking You

Yours Sincerely

Priya Chetty-Rajagopal

Founder

Links: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Lalbaghs-crumbling-aquarium-may-get-a-new-life/articleshow/50751514.cms?utm_source=nyoooz&utm_medium=post

Heritage Focus at Animal Husbandry & Vet Services

15 August 2021

Maj Manivannan P

Secretary to the Govt of Karnataka

Dept of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Sciences (AHVS) & Minority Welfare

Vikasa Soudha

Bangalore 560001

Dear Sir:

Subject: Heritage Spaces at AHVS, Karnataka

Thank you for your exceptional leadership of this department and the many transformational initiatives you have led. While we completely understand that the focus of the department is naturally to optimise on animal husbandry and veterinary services, we thought it appropriate to bring to your attention some of the wonderful spaces within the AHVS umbrella that need some attention and preservation and perhaps even showcasing. There is rich history and many stories in addition to architectural heritage present. The Commissioner was also interested in this heritage.

The Queens Vet Hospital or Cantonment Super specialty Hospital on Queens Road itself is a 1908 Heritage structure going back over a century! It is important for us to celebrate and showcase impact made by this unit on the dairy and equine industry in the country, not just the city, in the last century as well as highlighting the best quality vet care to a growing city. I can share some of the links. Some of the structures and perhaps all the buildings inside require a little work and upkeep and we are happy to coordinate and provide any support or inputs to highlight its heritage status. As you might know, Heritage Beku in its Knights for Queens campaign 4 years ago, took an extremely solid stance to protect this heritage and saved over 91 trees in the premises, in addition to ensuring the balance Heritage structures were not destroyed. In the last year BMRCL has cut through the back of the hospital grounds, and demolished ( a newer) building while blocking access to the main road. Once work is over , we must ensure the resident vets house and storerooms are recovered and merged back. There are also heritage terracotta tiles , stables and a small animal block at the rear. While the focus now may be primarily a matter of the 24/7 hospital functioning, it is just important for us to be able to showcase and mainstream the back story of these historic premises into the daily functioning of the hospital and inculcate a sense of ownership and pride in it with doctors and teams, as well as with customers and visitors. It may be a vet hospital but it is also historic!

The other heritage structures include a very small SPCA at Cubbon Park, located next to the Govt Aquarium at Kasturba Road (which probably comes under the AHVS or Fisheries department), and has been leased out to Karuna for the last two decades for some odd reason. Karuna should be disallowed from using this space especially since it has gone into disuse. This small room can be easily used to have a heritage feel with posters etc and also coordinate as a rescue POC for the Park dogs. A letter to The DD, Cubbon Park, Horticulture Dept, and Cubbon Park on highlighting and maintaining this charming structure is enclosed. Given its charming 19thcentury architecture and interesting colonial history, we urge you to do whatever we can to preserve and highlight this whimsical and impactful structure that is located so well in the heart of Bangalore.

Opposite Cantonment station is another such heritage structure, earlier part of the Queens Vet Hospital, now an office to the Karnataka Poultry Federation. The rear of the scantily used building abuts the Queens Vet hospital. However small and dilapidated it may be, a little bit of work including removing of the large hoarding in front of the structure would help showcase this nearly a century old building that was originally a caretaker’s residence.

I do understand they would be other places scattered across rest of the state. The Hessaraghata guesthouse/building too has an interesting history and architectural interest, I hear and deserves active use , preservation and highlighting. It may be interesting to start listing these structures as and when time permits.

While budgets and pressure of work may not allow extensive renovation or conservation, we only request that these buildings be used well, but preserved and not altered or demolished in anyway. By bringing out and highlighting the heritage elements of several of the AHVS and Fisheries properties, it accentuates the pride not only in state history and heritage but also the origins and evolution of the vibrant Animal Husbandry Department in the state. Showcasing this in the AHVS website would also demonstrate the department’s interest in sustainability and its consciousness of its own history and origins.

We hope that this note will highlight a hitherto lesser known facet of the department. At Heritage Beku, we are happy to have a discussion with a dynamic and inclusive leader like you on any ideas or thoughts we could collaborate on. We look forward to your support for the heritage of your department .

Thanking you.

Yours Sincerely

Priya Chetty-Rajagopal

Founder, Heritage Beku

Grate our Trees, don't Choke them

I tripped over the brick enclosure around a tree trunk last week. Looking at the Tree pit with its raised bricks and scraggly plants, blocking the pavement, I asked the Horticulture & Smart City persons why it was there. As the pourakarmikas sometimes sweep rubbish into the tree bed, so it’s better we protect it, one replied. By creating another hazard I asked? There was silence .

We love trees, we love to walk and use our pavements too. Many Indian states like Gujarat or Tamil Nadu, planners have recognized the need to protect trees AND pedestrians by using a simple tree grate at the base of the tree to guard the soil and roots, and integrated it into the street and city design. Trees play an important role in rainwater runoff and in flood management. These grates keep the trees safe and allows sunlight, water, and air to pass through, ensuring trees still have plenty of access to nutrients. Many civic agencies , private owners etc often concrete or choke the tree bed resulting in the tree roots weakening and tree falling , causing grave danger to pedestrians and vehicles as well. The tree grate design allows pedestrians maximum walking space and integrates the tree INTO a the pathway rather than causing a block. They prevent litter build up and weed growth as well. By allowing for tree growth, and creating safe enclosures for growing trees, it creates an aesthetic integrated feel blending into urban background that truly means a smart city.

And no, it’s not expensive! It’s as cost effective than the cumbersome, breakable brick enclosures that block the pedestrian walk way, and grates can be made in cast aluminum , cast iron or even concrete. It can be precast in the design of the city emblem or symbol, thereby creating greater ownership and deepening cultural roots. By integrating into disability standards, it covers another important aspect of walkability. A WHO report also suggests that aesthetically pleasing landscaping is linked with less violence, graffiti, vandalism, and litter in the area too.

Smart Cities itself recognises this as an integral part of the greening exercise . On World Cities Day , a report Smart Cities (in a campaign with World Economic Forum) mentioned 'The plantation drive of 100 saplings commenced in the morning along the Raj Bhavan Road. It may be noted that tree plantation, tree mapping, tree grates, and green buffer alongside the carriageway have been identified as integral components of road architecture for improving the walkability on the footpath and sustainable mobility'

Cities like Bangalore who work so hard to protect and nurture precious trees should immediately shift to this simple system that saves lives, preserves the tree, integrates it into the surroundings, creates walkability and is aesthetic and sustainable. Let’s grate our trees, not choke them.