Next steps : Industrial Heritage

Bangalore has always been known as a Science City. Its current image of being a vibrant, youthful, innovative and productive city owes its foundations to the vision of the Mysore Maharaja’s government, which transformed this sleepy cantonment city, expanded to keep watch on the goings on during the colonial era, into a throbbing centre for science and industry.

Visweswaraiah’s focus on building core infrastructure and encouraging industries to set up in the Bangalore areabegan with the establishment of Asia’s first hydro-electric power station supplying power on a large scale. The vision of subsequent administrators such as Mirza Ismail, brought plentiful power to Bangalore. The pleasant climate, the availability of educated labour and the availability of land encouraged both public and private enterprises to set up their establishments in Bangalore. State Government industries such as Mysore Electrical Industries and the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents continue that century old legacy, even though other pathbreaking companies such as NGEF and the Chrome Tanning Factory now remain only in the realm of nostalgia. Union Government undertakings such as HAL, BEL and BEML, operate still from Bangalore. In the private sector, Many industries were located within the city; Binny mills, Elgin Flour mills, Minerva Mills, Standard Brick and Tile Factory and the ITC Cigarette factory come to mind.

However, much of this industrial heritage of Bangalore has now been liquidated. Sadly, in many cases, no trace of the old industries of Bangalore remains; most have been replaced totally by residential apartments and office complexes. Some, like the NGEF, are being taken over to cater to the needs of the Metro, and other contemporary infrastructure.

We need to recognise industrial heritage and acknowledge its role in the history and culture of Bangalore. While an occasional museum may be built to preserve memories, such as the HAL Museum, Industrial heritage lovers will find it difficult to piece together a comprehensive picture of Bangalore’s role in India’s industrialization. Bangalore’s celebrated Visveswaraiah museum is inadequate to celebrate Bangalore’s extensive industrial heritage.

There is a dire need to begin and expand initiatives to preserve and celebrate Bangalore’s industrial heritage. Here are three ideas on which we need to move quickly.

Build a collective of enthusiasts around tech and industrial heritage:

Industrial heritage preservation now happens in silos by individual organisations, particularly if there are dedicated persons within the system who wish to devote their time and energy to this task. While the HAL Museum is an early and good example of this effort, there are other such efforts under way. The railways have announced plans of setting up a Railway historical centre at the old Nandi Railway Station, which is being restored. The Rail Wheel factory has plans of setting up a Wheel museum. The Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club, one of the oldest clubs of this kind in the country, has over 300 members and documented details of over 1500 vehicles, preserved by individual enthusiasts.

Yet, there are examples of Industrial heritage being neglected. Some still survive for the present,such as the original electricity receiving stations constructed over a century back, but how long they will survive is uncertain.

1. We need to bring together all custodians of such efforts, all museums that exist in this regard, as well as private enthusiasts and benefactors, to brainstorm on what are the plans for going ahead, to preserve Bangalore’s industrial heritage. A Seminar will be a good way to begin these efforts.

2. Initiate a documentation of industrial heritage: Following the seminar, we could initiate a process of documentation of industrial heritage of Bangalore. There are many individual efforts ongoing in this regard, usually undertaken in a low profile manner. However, archivers need to get together, know more about each other and a repository of what is there created. Heritagebeku can be at the coordinating level. Once archived, the stories can be told – of discoveries, their significance and what needs to be done to preserve them. A good example to follow is the one taken by enthusiasts to preserve ancient inscriptions in and around Bangalore.

3. Once interest is raised, collaborate on a few projects: Many projects could be begun to promote an interest in Industrial heritage preservation. Some of them are as follows:

   (a) Conduct an annual exhibition to bring industrial heritage enthusiasts together and showcase their efforts in their respective areas of interest.

   (b) Collaborate to undertake quality restoration of Industrial heritage artifacts.

Many restoration efforts, though well intentioned, end up being careless with not enough attention paid to authenticity, due to inadequate research and mistaking beautification for restoration. Solution is to go slow, be scientific and involve private enthusiasts in the effort to restore and maintain artifacts of industrial heritage. And as far as technology heritage is concerned, we must strive, as far as is practically  possible, to get old equipment to work in the way that they were meant to be. Old wind up clocks should be wound up and click. Old cars should run. Old steam locos must also hiss, whistle and run.

Preserve them by keeping them running..

Please email us at heritagebeku@gmail.com with your ideas and suggestions.

Whither Industrial Heritage

Mr Raghunandan , well known vintage and heritage expert brings up a unique heritage issue that often misses our attention: Industrial Heritage. Reader, #HeritageBeku wouid be keen on your thoughts and inputs on this.

‘We need to recognise industrial heritage and acknowledge its role in the history and culture of Bangalore. Many industries were located within the city (Binny mills, Elgin Flour mills, Minerva Mills, NGEF, ITC factory). They have all been relocated or liquidated with not even a trace of them remaining. Not even a tiny museum commemorating them. Similarly we have steam locomotives that are rotting away with little of their history known.

The only industrial heritage structures that remain are the A and B stations of the electricity system, now with BESCOM. I suppose it's only a matter of time before they are demolished.

The railway stations still preserve some old elements. But they have been carelessly restored.

And that's the problem. Careless restoration. Doing the easy 90%. And messing up the critical remaining 10 percent by not doing enough research and mistaking beautification for restoration.

Solution is to go slow, be scientific and involve private enthusiasts in the effort to restore and maintain artifacts of industrial heritage.

And as far as technology heritage is concerned, we must strive, as far as is practically possible, to get old equipment to work in the way that they were meant to be. Old wind up clocks should be wound up and click. Old cars should run. Old steam locos must also hiss, whistle and run.”

Prof Rabindra chips in, ‘Absolutely important as history of technology is the most important indicator of cultural evolution in any society. Very valid point coming from a person who is deeply involved in upholding the values of technological heritage. Thank you for sharing your perspective. “

This is what the vintage car groups do says Mr Raghunandan: ‘ The KVCCC has a decent template of what works in practice when it comes to restoration of old vehicles.

(1) We hold regular shows. For all kinds of enthusiasts. Cars, two wheelers, drivers.

(2) We have technical discussions at our shows. On independence day we held a bike show followed by a tech seminar in which 3 experts spoke on (a) dos and don'ts of restorations of two wheelers (b) handling electrical and carburation issues (c) dos and don'ts for long journeys on classic bikes.’

He informally shares his own experience on the Karnataka Vintage Car Group KVCCC :

´Our WhatsApp group has become a good place to share restoration tips, progress on restorations and similar stuff. Discussions that become useful are immediately archived and put out on our website. We have a huge collection of workshop manuals, digitised.

The result is that over the last two years since a new Executive Committee took over, we have expanded our activities. More members have joined, we have many more displays and drives and more vehicles are being restored and are hitting the road.

We also worked with the government to get the vintage vehicle rules issued for Karnataka. A huge achievement. It streamlines the process for dealing with registration related issues concerning vintage vehicles.’

Excellent example here feels #HeritageBeku . So here is how execution and ideation come together to affect policy . Here’s something to learn from if we proceed on this .

In response to Priya Chetty-Rajagopal query on the ‘how’ of preserving what’s left , Mr Raghunandan responds with Three ideas:

‘(1) Build a collective of enthusiasts around tech and industrial heritage

(2) Document what's left

(3) Maybe collaboration on a few projects? Start with exhibitions and then progress to participation in restorations?’

Readers what are your thoughts ?

And Can we begin ?

Bengaluru monuments call for care

Many are in a poor shape and not enough is being done to conserve them, say experts

Article in Deccan Herald by Rashmi Rajagopal Sept 5 2024

Extract : Citizen groups like Heritage Beku have been instrumental in saving heritage buildings owned by private entities. “But at the end of the day, the owner can choose to do what they want unless authorities can offer to buy. We sometimes intervene by getting fashion houses, consulates or corporations to buy or rent these properties to restore and reuse them. A fine example is designer Tarun Tahiliani’s showroom in Woodlands Hotel, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road. It is housed in a restored heritage bungalow,” says Priya-Chetty Rajagopal, founder, Heritage Beku.

Tax breaks needed

Maintaining such large properties is not viable and property tax is a huge issue. “The changes in property tax based on capital value rather than self assessment, which is currently on hold, is a death knell to heritage conservation. In fact we urge GoK to waive property tax for heritage properties,” says Priya.

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/bengaluru-monuments-call-for-care-3179073

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Full article:

There is not enough being done to conserve these monuments, but the public should also take some responsibility, feels historian Suresh Moona. “The armoury in Kalasipalya for instance is 200 years old. It played an important part in the third Anglo-Mysore war. But it is in a terrible condition. The concerned departments must create public awareness drives about the importance of these sites, so that they do not damage it and instead contribute to its preservation,” he shares. 

Cracks appeared on the walls of the Vanivilas Hospital, Kalasipalya due to the underground metro construction, recalls Moona. The hospital was built in 1935. “One must take utmost care while constructing anything new in their vicinity,” he explains.

Citizen groups like Heritage Beku have been instrumental in saving heritage buildings owned by private entities. “But at the end of the day, the owner can choose to do what they want unless authorities can offer to buy. We sometimes intervene by getting fashion houses, consulates or corporations to buy or rent these properties to restore and reuse them. A fine example is designer Tarun Tahiliani’s showroom in Woodlands Hotel, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road. It is housed in a restored heritage bungalow,” says Priya-Chetty Rajagopal, founder, Heritage Beku.

Tax breaks needed

Maintaining such large properties is not viable and property tax is a huge issue. “The changes in property tax based on capital value rather than self assessment, which is currently on hold, is a death knell to heritage conservation. In fact we urge GoK to waive property tax for heritage properties,” says Priya.

Basav Biradar, founder of HistoryWallahs, says most monuments in the city are unprotected. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and state archaeology departments do manage the spaces, but do not do much in terms of conservation. “A few years ago, BDA was working on a master plan which included heritage conservation as a priority but it is yet to be finalised,” he reveals. Laws are flouted routinely. “One of the ASI rule states that no building can come up within a 100-metre radius of any protected monument but the remains of the fort in the city market area is adjacent to the Victoria Hospital compound and it is surrounded by market,” he points out. He adds that the paintings on the walls of Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace have been deteriorating over the years.

Picking up

Akhila Udayashankar, a conservation architect, is a part of the team that is currently working on restoring the government museum on Kasturba Road. She has a more positive outlook on the future of heritage buildings in the city. “In the past 5-8 years, we have been seeing an increase in efforts to restore both private and non-private buildings,” she says. Her team has worked on a number of old churches such as St Mark’s Cathedral on M G Road and St John’s Church, Frazer Town. They are currently restoring a portion of the East Parade Church on M G Road. She details the challenges conservation architects face. “It is hard to find masons who are skilled in working with lime plaster. Carpenters who are competent in working with teakwood are getting difficult to come by. A lot of the old buildings have stucco work and not many masons are adept at it,” Akhila explains.

Official speaks

D Smitha, Director, Museums, Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, says that the government has been increasing its efforts to preserve heritage structures and monuments. “We introduced the ‘Adopt a monument’ scheme. Through this, NGOs or CSR initiatives can adopt a monument and maintain it for a period of five years. We are also in the process of 3D mapping temples. This way, if the temple suffers damage, it will have a digital image of what it originally looked like and can therefore restore it accordingly,” she shares