The Corporation of Chennai, in its latest budget, has announced plans for setting up a special Heritage Cell "to assist heritage building owners and conservationists in the renovation and maintenance of heritage structures." The cell, says the Corporation, will comprise experts from within and outside the Corporation.

Sounds familiar? Well, this was almost the same mandate on the basis of which the Heritage Conservation Committee of the CMDA was set up. And, so, is the Corporation not aware of the CMDA's HCC? If so, how different will be its functioning?

It is now almost two years since the CMDA's HCC began functioning. Under the guise of bringing in a well-balanced committee, the CMDA managed to fill it with Government representatives, University professors and others who are in some way or the other connected with the bureaucratic/political dispensation. The lone voice that has dissented despite being outvoted at each count is that of the INTACH representative.

If the HCC had been serious about its mandate, it would have gone about its work differently. It had the option to base its functioning on the Delhi Urban Arts Commission which fulfilled its role as a responsible protector of heritage values while the Metro progressed in that city. In Chennai, on the other hand, the HCC has opted to be a kind of sanctioning authority for demolition of heritage buildings and has toed the line of the CMDA and Metrorail. After two years of functioning, it has not been able to inspect all the buildings under its jurisdiction and has not even begun the process of notification of the list of heritage buildings.

It is to be hoped that the Corporation's cell will be a more dynamic body, positively committed to all that is declared to be heritage and not an agency to debate on whether they can be demolished.