Thiruvananthapuram: Next week will be a crucial one in determining the direction of the renovation project that has been launched at Government High School, Attakulangara.
A three-member committee appointed by the Director of Public Instruction (DPI) to review the progress of the renovation entrusted to a private firm will visit the school next week and submit a report to the DPI, based on which a decision will taken.
The committee was constituted at a meeting of the government technical committee that monitors renovation of schools after the recent work at the over-a-century-old school drew flak from the school protection committee and architects. The Education Department had entrusted the school renovation to the Habitat Technology Group and work began in February. However, it has been stopped for the time being.
The school protection committee and architects have alleged the heritage characteristics of the school were not being preserved while undertaking the work. They were also unhappy about the way the work was being taken up. Roof tiles were removed leaving the buildings exposed to the elements, and pillars were decorated with paint. In the oldest building on the premises that is older than VJT Hall, roof tiles had been removed, lime and paint cover had been scraped off, and pillars on the verandah brought down, they said.
School heritage cell member Asha Gopinathan said the school had been given grade 1 status by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). However, a number of interventions had been made that neglected the restoration point of view.
INTACH convener Shaji Krishnan said they had noted serious deficiencies in preservation of the heritage characteristics and the way the work was undertaken. “There is a lot of tangible and intangible heritage associated with the school. If so much money is being spent on conserving the heritage buildings, it should be done properly under the supervision of conservation experts.”
He pointed to the Fort restoration project and the Palayam cathedral as examples of work well done.
Ms. Gopinathan said they had sought a copy of the technical committee report on the project, and the documentation made by the implementing firm before undertaking the work.
School protection committee secretary Saji Kumar said they had spent four years fighting to protect the school’s land from being used for development projects and would protest against any neglect of the school now. “This work cannot be taken up like any other contract. What if after everything the school is denied a fitness certificate?”
Mr. Sankar, however, said that their claims were unfounded, and the work was being done carefully under the supervision of conservation architects with Habitat. In the heritage building, the right wing had collapsed, and the left was one the verge of doing so. Past damage to the building was substantial. Moreover, random construction had been done. “There is nothing heritage about them. They are add-ons, not part of history,” he said.
“We are only strengthening the building so that it remains standing. We are not adding anything,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, INTACH too is trying to get experts to look at the restoration and suggest measures on how to proceed with it further.