Suggestions for Heritage in BBMP Budget 2022

BBMP Budget 2022 for Heritage sent to : adcfbbmp@gmail.com

1. Corpus for purchase/restoration of buildings in city

2. Allocating at least 20 lacs per ward on restoration, upkeep and evangelizing ward heritage

3. Properly constituted BBMP Heritage Conservation Committee with members from Heritage Beku

4. Revamp of building byelaws and issues affecting heritage

5. Update of natural heritage especially ward level parks, lakes and cultural sites

6. Reinstate the right of first refusal for sale of heritage properties as mentioned in BBMP Heritage Act 2020

7. Incentives for heritage buildings - restoration, waiver of property tax etc

8. Awareness and training on heritage for government, schools etc

9. Revamping heritage government buildings, and creating greater ownership & showcasing

10. Inventory of heritage at ward level, all types of heritage, built, unbuilt, natural and cultural. What is heritage to be carefully thought of and then listed.

11. Training ward committee on heritage issues and preservation and adaptive reuse

12. Guidelines (Simple dos and donts) for heritage sites and guidelines for adaptive reuse

13. Training heritage site owners on simple dos and donts including adaptive reuse

14. List of incentives (tax incentives, funding, materials and construction techniques for heritage preservation. (This at ward level will be helpful and more hands on)

15. Simple Heritage preservation dos and donts for institutional and commercial buildings and adaptive reuse guidelines.

16. Just a thought; easier to preserve commercial and institutional with rearranging uses and funding may not always be an issue…usually they are on larger pieces of land and the heritage building can be preserved and other structures can be built

17. Preserving the aesthetics of heritage structures by ensuring that the height, setbacks and facades of adjacent structures are compatible. This is a little complicated and subjective but at least larger setbacks on the adjacent properties on the sides abutting the heritage sites will help immensely in preserving the aesthetics.

18. Funding for the wards for all of the above. Right of first refusal to BBMP for heritage buildins

19. The Palace Trail in Ward 93 was approved by the then Nodal Officer Manjunath Prasad, BBMP Commissioner. This needs to be restarted as a pilot project for ward heritage in Bangalore

20. Funds for better heritage precincts and highlighting - signboards, benches, lights etc

21. Tree grates to protect trees and help pavements be walkable www.change.org/TreeGrates

Going nuts about Kadalekai Parishe ...

Heritage Beku was keen to showcase our beloved cultural heritage dating back to nearly 500 years, and used a three pronged approach - talks, postcard and a young children covering the festival from their fresh vision.

Talks with our historians like Suresh Moona, an interactive postcard from the Augmented Reality Company FlipAR, and our young heritage warriors from partners Parikrma sharing their interviews, videos and snippets from the festival, even a couple of deeply sensitive poems.

The Talk :

The famed Kadlekai Parishe or Groundnut Fair on 29 Nov is an annual and much beloved event in Bangalore - our unique cultural heritage. But many of us know so little , so we got Historian Suresh Moona to share his heritage expertise on its fascinating origins, its evolution , its community social and economic impact. So much to learn ! So tune in while we got the nuts and bolts on this one!

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The Interactive Postcard

FlipAR has developed this delicately painted postcard for Heritage Beku that brings the Kadalekai Parishe story alive. Hitech and tradition in one postcard ! Swipe right ...

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The Teen Parikrma Journalists

A team of young students went to the fair to get a sense of the colour and atmosphere , met the visitors, vendors and others. See their pictures and their impressions.

Read their lovely poems , so sensitively etched, below..

Stand by for their video...

Poem 1

Topknot on head

Reed mat for a bed

The Hlakki Pikki tribal displays his wares

Colourful beads and mystic seeds

To his cries, no one heeds.

His wife sits, resigned look on face

Wondering why they sre part of this city's rat race.

The hungry child rests in her bosom

Breathing dust, fume.

Our tribal brethren need our care

So do buy their ware.

Poem 2

Groundnut ground reality strikes

When you see the look in the little boy's eyes.

Surrounded by hundreds of toys

That he will never play with, unlike other boys

Forced to grow from boy to man

What it means to be him, imagine, if you ever can.

He longs to be treated like the child he sells his toys to

But whither fate, he is forced to play the role of provider to his siblings few.

Preserve Govt Tamil Primary School, Ashoka Nagar

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30 Nov 2021

Principal Secretary

Department of Education & Public Instruction

Government of Karnataka

Bangalore

Sir/Madam

Greetings from Heritage Beku, a citizen led initiative to preserve the history of Bengaluru.

This email comes to you regarding preservation of the Government Tamil Primary School at Ashok Nagar near Garuda Mall - a quaint building with a ninety-one-year history to its existence.

It is also a standing testimony to Bengaluru’s commitment in preserving the cultural ethos of its linguistic minorities.

We write to you today in the hope that this space continues to keep its identity as space of learning. Towards this endeavour, we would like to propose it to be the venue for a weekly literary meet of writers from both Tamil and Kannada to promote and understand the confluence of two of the oldest Dravidian languages in our country.

The space is reminiscent of old-world Bangalore charm that we at Heritage Beku would like to preserve for the future generations. We would like to discuss this further with you at your convenience.

It was also distressing to hear rumours recently that there is some talk on demolishing the space. It would be inconceivable for us to believe that our governing bodies would negate the history of preserving its linguistic minorities and a revered place of education.

We at Heritage Beku are a group of invested citizens from the city of Bengaluru.

We look forward to hearing from you about collaborating on creating a cultural common space for the new generation.

Thanking You.

Yours Sincerely

Manasi Paresh Kumar

Heritage Beku

Links :

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/century-old-government-schools-in-bengaluru-receive-grants-but-fall-short-on-teachers-and-students/article69023213.ece/amp/

2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/bangalore-schools-to-remain-open-amid-yellow-alert-due-to-cyclone-fengal-heavy-rainfall-pushes-netizens-to-demand-holiday-for-students/amp_articleshow/115932400.cms

3. https://www.edexlive.com/amp/story/news/2019/Jan/29/this-106-year-old-tamil-medium-school-in-bengaluru-was-saved-from-closure-this-is-how-5173.html

4. https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/cities/bengaluru/2021/Nov/27/bengaluru-has-no-electricity-to-provide-for-this-govt-school-2388639.html

5. https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/cover-story/open-shut-case/amp_articleshow/101766407.cms

6. https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/cities/bengaluru/2021/Dec/01/91-year-old-bengaluru-govt-school-faces-demolition-2390182.html