Historic Seshadripuram police station to be razed; but is it a heritage building? 

The Seshadripuram Police Station building, which is 133 years old, is being demolished to make way for a new building, triggering a debate not only over conservation of heritage buildings in the city, but also the criteria for designating any building as a ‘heritage’ one.

The Seshadripuram Police Station building, which is 133 years old, is being demolished to make way for a new building, triggering a debate not only over conservation of heritage buildings in the city, but also the criteria for designating any building as a ‘heritage’ one.

Constructed in 1892, the Seshadripuram police station in the central part of the city is also infamous for the first instance of a lock-up death in the State. The building, which was built during the British Era, however, does not have a heritage status unlike the Cubbon Park police station which was built much later in 1910. This has led many city residents to question why the former has not been considered a heritage site despite its age.

Contrary to popular belief, historians and heritage conservators say that the age of a building is not the sole determinant of heritage. 

“Although age is often one of the factors, a building being 100 years old does not automatically make it heritage. Its architecture, aesthetics, history, what happened in the building, how important it is to the city, region or location are all considered before declaring it a heritage site. Even if Vidhana Soudha is not a 100 years old, it could be considered to be declared a heritage building. Or if a building has say a particular roof structure which had begun in the year that the building was constructed, then such factors make it a heritage building,” explained Meera Iyer, Convener of the Bengaluru Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

She further stated that some government departments also have their own guidelines to consider a building as heritage site. “The Beaulieu on Palace Road has been called a heritage building by the Postal Department.” she said.  

While some monuments like the Taj Mahal are nationally protected as heritage sites, the Kempegowda Tower is a State-protected monument due to its significance to both Bengaluru and Karnataka. The city, however, does not yet have a mechanism for buildings to be declared heritage even though under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Act, 2020, a heritage conservation committee should be formed. 

BBMP officials said that under the provisions of the Act, a proposal was prepared and sent to the government to form a BBMP Heritage Conservation Committee. “It is now awaiting approval from the State government,” the official said.