The High Court of Madras may have urged that certain buildings be declared protection-worthy and ordered that they cannot be demolished but that is clearly not enough. For, in the absence of a Heritage Act or directive on what is to be done to such buildings, their future continues to be uncertain. Those who are keen on protecting heritage buildings in their possession are not sure as to what they can do and those wanting to demolish and develop are seeking various loopholes in the law to be allowed to go ahead. Caught in the middle of all this is the Heritage Conservation Committee, which is moving at a pace that may make snails seem to be in an unseemly hurry.

The Bible Society building on Memorial Hall Street was demolished long after it was included in the Justice Padmanabhan Committee list of buildings, which formed the basis for the High Court’s order to protect them. It now transpires that the church had all along had in its possession a demolition certificate from the CMDA which allowed it to proceed. It is also reliably learnt that the church has abandoned its earlier plan of a multi-storeyed structure on the site and is promising a new construction that will be in architectural sympathy with neighbouring Memorial Hall. If so, why the demolition at all? And what defines architectural sympathy? In the absence of any guidelines, you cannot help recollecting on two earlier instances – that of Spencer’s and Bentinck’s buildings. In both cases, it was promised that the new structures would be on the lines of the buildings that were brought down. What we got finally was not anything even remotely similar.

Lack of guidelines is proving a major headache in a host of other cases as well. Government is keen on demolishing the Government Press building where the Mint once was on the eponymous street. The Heritage Conservation Committee, it is learnt, is evenly divided on the issue and matters rest there for the present. Several hospitals are proceeding with demolition and development with no restraint. The Kasturba Gandhi (Victoria Caste and Gosha) Hospital in Triplicane has brought down entire wings and is proceeding with a modern highrise, completely out of sync with the remaining buildings. The Ophthalmic and the CSI Kalyani Hospitals are also planning various developments on their respective campuses and nobody is certain what plans are afoot.

If these are issues concerning lack of guidelines where redevelopment is involved, at least two other instances point to the necessity of a Heritage Act. Both Gokhale Hall and Bharat Insurance Building are semi-demolished structures where further destruction was prevented by court order. But there has been no progress in terms of getting a positive direction on how to restore both these buildings. Cases are pending in court and both structures are exposed to the vagaries of nature. A few weeks ago the LIC, which owns Bharat Insurance Building, had the entire structure wrapped in synthetic sheets with the ostensible purpose of preventing further damage, which the court had ordered it to do. But this is a double-edged sword, for nobody can now be certain what is happening inside the building.

It is in cases like this that a more dynamic Heritage Conservation Committee could make all the difference. But right now, meetings of the Committee are few and far between with very little concrete action emerging. And the composition of the Committee being largely bureaucratic, the ongoing State elections have emerged as the most convenient reason for no further action being taken. But after the election results are announced and a government formed, will there be any positive action aimed at protecting and conserving heritage buildings?

It might well also be asked, surely government permission is not necessary to protect buildings listed by the Heritage Conservation Committee as warranting conservation. Can’t bureaucracy act on the law without kowtowing to government’s whims?