The fate of the nearly 130-year-old Devaraja Market in Mysuru seems to have been sealed with Mayor Tasneem stating that the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) would submit a report to the government favouring its demolition.

This followed an inspection on Friday and the call has been taken following the views of various expert committees that were constituted to study the structural stability of the market.

The Mayor said she would send the report to the government on Monday and this is expected to pave way for its demolition and reconstruction. But the MCC report to the government will be placed before the High Court where a case is pending before it.

The court had directed the MCC to constitute a committee and submit a report regarding the feasibility of conserving the structure. But the committee, which did not give adequate representation to heritage experts and conservationists but appointed civil engineers, veered towards the view that the structure could be conserved only if it were to be showcased as a monument and not as a live market with footfalls of thousands of people.

Deputy Mayor Sridhar, who was part of the team that conducted a spot inspection, said that there was no alternative but to demolish the structure and construct a new one. “The structure is dilapidated and not in a position to withstand the load any more and any fresh conservation effort will not last long. It will be a perennial financial burden on the MCC to keep repairing it and it has to be demolished keeping in view the safety of the public.’’ The MCC Council has already passed a resolution in favour of demolition and even the expert committee report was in favour of reconstruction, he added.

The Heritage Committee which was opposed to the demolition has averred that the structure could be conserved to last a few more decades but their members expressed ire that the elected representatives were riding roughshod over their views. N.S.Rangaraju, a member of the committee, said there are examples of much older structures in the world that have been conserved. The city was losing its heritage block by block due to lack of financial and political support, he added.

There are nearly 700 plus shops in the Devaraja Market and the tenants have to be taken into confidence before any action could be initiated. “We will convene a meeting of all the stakeholders of Devaraja Market and take them into confidence’’, said Mr. Sridhar.