Kamal Singh Oberh
In today’s world, the status of kings, palaces and royal families have been reduced to that of relics that belong to an era long gone past. In their time, even though the grandeur of these places was for a selected few, it served the purpose of both making a statement and preserving the art of the land. In today’s world, with everything else eliminated, palaces and heritage buildings remain the treasure trove of local arts and cultural traditions. Standing tall, they remain a testimony to the rich heritage associated with their individual niches. With time frozen between rocks and bricks that lay under their plastered edifice, they represent a past that we all remain in awe of; that past is also something that we owe it to our future generations.
Heritage buildings, like our elders, need very careful handling and delicate management. It is a long-drawn slog that continues through the years and decades and there is no shortcut of faster alternative to this approach. Needless to say, that in addition to human care and attention, such structures incur heavy financial burden and unless something is done to ensure an organic way of sustaining these jewels, deterioration and eventual obliteration happens without exception. Urban development in a developing nation like that of ours, remains a huge grey area. Our borough expansions are not only unregulated, many of such swellings happen to be unlawful. Yet a combo of well-oiled system of greased palms and a formidable degree of lack of empathy, concern and ownership, willy-nilly results in bringing down inevitable stress on to such structures. Despite many such buildings and monuments having been declared as protected ones, neglect, vandalization and encroachments keep happening as a matter of routine.
Such a poor state of preservation of a large part of our national heritage is a result of the inability of those entrusted with their care and management of such assets. Even in cases where some amount of care is being taken, lack of application on part of the planners whose responsibility is to ensure the sustenance of such complexes, results in a situation where there may be a will but no means to back up that will.
Change is a constant
While the heritage structures continue to change, their existence has to be made timeless and relevant for the present generation. It is only when a degree of contemporariness is introduced that the structures don’t become redundant with passing generations. Conservation and sustenance, therefore are two of the most important pillars when it comes to handling of such estates. It is only through such an approach that such creations can serve a long term interest of society. This can be better understood if categorized under ‘economic’, ‘cultural’, and ‘environmental’.
They are not mutually exclusive; they are often interlocked. The time and money spent in conservation efforts usually goes to waste if not put to a suitable use.
Most buildings are capable of beneficial use, whether for their original purpose or for some other use. Buildings and their precincts need to be used in order to survive and such use can be made into an economically viable enterprise. Adaptive reuse of buildings has a major role to play in the sustainable development. When adaptive reuse involves historic buildings, environmental benefits are more significant, as these buildings offer so much to the environment, landscape, identity and amenity to the communities to which they belong.
When done well, adaptive reuse can restore and maintain the heritage significance of a building and help to ensure its survival, rather than falling into disrepair through neglect or being rendered unrecognisable. Heritage buildings that are sympathetically recycled can continue to be used and appreciated.
The Heritage hotel that is being proposed in the Mubarak Mandi seems to have stirred a controversy where opinions are being rallied and hype is being created as it being against the public sentiments. It is only prudent to mention that the proposed hotel is only in a small part of the entire complex, the major portion of the complex is being designed for public use. The heritage hotel is being proposed in the zenana areas of the Mubarak Mandi complex- an area which was not accessible for the normal public even in the era of the dynastic rules. It lies in the rear portion of the complex. So, the argument that the hotels would put the Mubarak Mandi out of the public domain needs to be examined before forming an opinion. The revenue generated via the hotel complex would help to manage the facilities of the larger complex.
The larger vision for Mubarak Mandi heritage complex is to rejuvenate it as a cultural centre reflecting the art and culture of Dogras and the Jammu region. It is envisaged that the cultural centre would be a place of pride and would help in economic regeneration of the entire community of Jammu.
Sustainability
The underlying philosophy for the Conservation and Restoration should be the 3 ‘R’s being ‘Repair’, ‘Restore’ and ‘Reuse’. The objective of conservation should be to sustain the building and/or the traditional skill and knowledge system of building. In this context, continuity of use must be seen as evolving over time. Conservation of architectural heritage and sites must be integrated with the social development. Conservation-oriented development must be the preferred strategy for social and economic progress. This necessitates the formation of multi-disciplinary teams to undertake integrated conservation projects.
Cost effectiveness, economic regeneration and community based sustainable development is in terms of the intervention and future maintenance of the building. The test of its validity must be the positive contribution it makes to the quality of life of the local community.
Tourism
Tourism’s importance as an instrument for economic development and employment generation, has been well recognized the world over. It is the largest service industry globally in terms of gross revenue as well as foreign exchange earnings. Tourism plays an important and effective role in achieving the growth with equity objectives.
When viewed in the context of J&K where no worthwhile raw material is produced, such an industry attains bigger significance.
The consumption demand, emanating from tourist expenditure, also induces more employment and generates a multiplier effect on the economy. As a result, additional income and employment opportunities are generated through such linkages. Thus, the expansion of the tourism sector can lead to large-scale employment generation and poverty alleviation. The economic benefits that flow into the economy through growth of tourism in the shape of increased national and State revenues, business receipts, employment, wages and salary.
Travellers, often opt to live in heritage hotels. The romance, nostalgia and the elegance of the past are some of the reasons. When Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur first opened its doors to travellers in 1963. “There was no such thing as tourism in Rajasthan. The airport did not exist; there were no flights and no tourism infrastructure to speak of. Today Rajasthan is leading state in Indian Tourism. Among the first fort palace to be restored into a hotel was Neemrana Fort Palace, once a grim ruin that merged into the dusty Aravalli hills, The ruins were conserved and restored using traditional materials, Local craftsmen were hired to restore the fort-palace. The property was turned into a hotel to ensure that it earned enough to be able to pay for its maintenance. The devastated gigantic complex around it were restored through minimum intervention.
World over the role of heritage regeneration/development as a tool for sustainable development is now recognized and acknowledged- a fact underlined by inclusion of heritage regeneration as a tool for sustainable development in achieving 17 SDG set out by United Nations. As per the Niti Aayog Working Group report on Improving
Heritage Management in India, (June 2020) The Centre and State Governments should leverage India’s massive network of heritage sites as a tool for development and employment generation by providing improved services to domestic and international tourists through public-private-partnership. “Economic sustainability is a key challenge in conservation and development of heritage sites for tourist/visitor interest, state funding can get it going, but it is critical that a self-sustaining economic cycle kicks in, this is especially true for the major protected monuments, and these have potential to generate revenue that can help conserve, protect and develop the others.”
The working group on ”Improving Heritage Management in India”, was set up in the year 2019 under the instruction of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The group in its report also pitched for adopting revenue generation model through PPP (public private partnership) schemes. Considering the potential of Jammu in terms of its connectivity and location and proximity to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, the stay of the tourist could be increased from a single day to minimum 2-3 days. This would facilitate the city’s trade and commerce and boost its economy.
The Heritage complex of Mubarak Mandi is a very large complex and has many layers of history and is spread over a large area, the built up area of the historic buildings is to the tune of many thousand sq mts. It require a Multi-pronged approach for sustainable heritage management. It needs to be developed in a manner where the site can sustain itself through various revenue generating schemes. Conversion of every heritage space into a museum and interpretation centre is not very viable as the requisite foot fall for the spaces is not very high and would barely cover the cost of maintenance of a site like Mubarak Mandi which in itself would be a huge expenditure. The current museums and archives situated in Mubarak Mandi hardly have enough footfall. Though it could be argued that improved museum facilities would create better returns. But the declining trend of visitors to the museums world over is not very encouraging. Nostalgia alone cannot sustain a heritage complex of the scale of Mubarak Mandi.
Various states including Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab etc are converting the forts and palaces into heritage Hotels to boost the potential of tourism. Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department has given Tajmahal situated in Bhopal on lease to be converted into a heritage hotel, Moti Mahal of Gwalior and Mahendra Bhavan of Panna are also in the race. RFP’s have been issued for development of heritage hotel at Rajgarh Palace, Datia. Kyoti Fort Rewa, Vijayraghavgarh Fort,Katni. International charters on heritage management are emphasising on the sustainability of heritage management, The Burra Charter recommends Adaptation via article 21, it states ‘Adaptation is acceptable only where adaptation has minimal impact on the cultural significance of the place’. If we are to pass on our built heritage to future generations in a better condition than we inherited it, liberalization of the cultural sector needs to be brought in and responsibility entrusted to private entities, universities, non-profit organizations and conservation efforts could ensure that the highest standards are met.
Many of the Indian ruler commissioned forts, palaces and temples in times of drought as a life-saving economic incentive for the populace. Making use of these heritage assets for the public good would keep the spirit alive of our ancestors while simultaneously creating an economic asset that continues to pay rich dividends for years to come.
Only a limited number of heritage buildings are tourist attractions; for the rest, new functions need to be incentivized and planned. To be meaningful, conservation works need to be coupled with urban improvements, improved transport infrastructure, providing economic opportunities, and improving health, education and sanitation infrastructure. Only then will heritage assets be valued by those living around them. Conservationists have often expected local communities to contribute towards the conservation effort while not offering any incentives and imposing heavy restrictions. Such an approach is not successful.
The CPWD Manual for historic buildings 2013, published in 2013 has a section on Adaptive reuse and cites the case study of Tijara Fort Palace, Alwar a palace of Maharaja Balwant Singh built in 1845 which was in possession of ASI before being converted to a heritage Hotel. It refers to another case study of the Adaptive reuse of the Town Hall in Kolkata, where the public building built in 1813 was restored in 1990’s and is now a museum executed under the PPP mode.
Heritage is an ongoing dynamic process where the past has to be continuously relevant for the future. In the Central Vista project of New Delhi, where renovation and reconstruction is being done right in the heart of the capital next to the Rashtrapati bhavan, an argument presented in favour of the ongoing project was upheld in the Supreme Court. Read as follows: “The present project represents not a radical break from the past so as to lean on the future, rather entails a judicious policy attempt to conserve the delicate heritage and historical value of the area whilst allowing room for growth and development for the future generations..”
And thus I’d like to sum up – that the approach towards heritage preservation needs to be strategic in nature – a long term approach – even though the tactical steps taken in that direction – in the present day – at times – may or may not – appear rational. Let’s not forget, all is well – that ends well!
The author is Group Captain (Retd)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel