Chowky demolition meets with protest

punemirror.indiatimes.com /pune/civic/chowky-demolition-meets-with-protest/articleshow/60713964.cms

By Aprajita Vidyarthi Aprajita Vidyarthi , Pune Mirror | Updated: Sep 17, 2017, 02.30 AM IST
Several activists question civic bodys move of demolishing chowky outside SPPU; call it disrespectful and
damaging

A day after Pune Mirror reported the erroneous manner in which PMCs road department demolished the 150-year-
old chowky of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), a group of heritage conservationists associated with
various organisations came together to stage a protest near the rubble of the chowky on Saturday.

Conservationists from Aundh Vikas Mandal, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Pune
Chapter, Rotary Club and Bhoslenagar Mohalla Committee along with various other independent heritage
conservationists joined the protest.

Makarand Shende, an activist working for heritage conservation, said, It is really sad to see that the Pune Municipal
Corporation (PMC) itself does not respect the citys heritage. The rules and norms are frequently bent according to
the convenience of the departments. The procedures of shifting as well as demolition were highly violated and it is
important that strict action should be taken against those found guilty. Also, there should be a proper guidelines
issued mentioning the criteria under which a heritage structure can be shifted. It is because of the reports in the
Mirror that this goof-up came to light and it came in the publics view how conveniently such an important heritage
structure was razed to ground.

He is also irked with the fact that there was no public notice issued about the structure and still no mention has been
made as to where the new chowky will be put up. The heritage cell of the PMC and organisations working to
conserve the heritage were completely left out while the road department went ahead with the demolition, Shende
said.

The team has now decided to meet police commissioner Rashmi Shukla on Sunday and file an FIR against the
departments involved in the reckless demolition. The protesters also argued that the right of shifting the heritage
structures should be given to the general masses, as they might face inconvenience if their house counts as a
heritage structure.

Vaishali Patkar, president, Aundh Vikas Mandal, said, We need to know on what grounds was the permission to shift
was given to the road department by the state archaeology department. Also, shifting a heritage structure is not a
joke. Today, if you plan to shift to structure at some other place and then that also starts coming in the way of
development, will it be shifted again?

Patkar emphasised on the fact that they should have taken the shifting aftermath into consideration so as to the
citys heritage is not negatively impacted. However, Rajendra Raut, the head of the road department claimed that
they had taken all the measures to shift the monument and did not demolish it recklessly. He said, We did not just
aggressively demolish the structure, but as stated by the state archaeology department, we took the precautions to
shift it. The new chowky will be built in the SPPU campus itself with new stones. We have the drawing and
pictographic evidences of the heritage chowky.

When asked about the dimensions of the area, Raut said, The heritage chowky was built in a square-shaped land
and the new area will be a bit bigger than the earlier.

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