Visakhapatnam : 

At one time, it was probably the most popular landmark in the Port City. Built to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII in 1914, the Kurupam Market had a lofty gateway and a clock tower. All of a sudden, out of the blue exactly two years ago in the month of November, the structure built by the then zamindar of Kurupam, which at the most needed a few repairs, was knocked down by the GVMC authorities at the orders of the then commissioner MV Satyanarayana. This despite the fact that the structure was listed as a heritage monument by the Vizag chapter of Intach.

The demolition of the structure, which was actually under the control of the endowments department, triggered a blame game. While the endowments department absolved itself of any involvement, GVMC authorities categorically denied any hand in the demolition, which took place in the middle of the night. However, heritage activists put the blame on GVMC. They claimed that Kuppam Market was razed in a demolition drive by the civic body in Old Town during which nearly 30 structures were knocked down.

Though it has been two years now, none of the promises made by then MLA (South) Dronam Raju Srinivas have materialised. “Plans are afoot to build a similar structure in the place of the old one at a cost of Rs 65 lakh,” the MLA had declared soon after the demolition. However, as on today, no such structure has either come or any such move is on the anvil. After the demolition, some landmarks of the heritage structure including the clock and the timber beams were taken away. The clock was last seen inside one of the godowns in the market yard a few days after demolition. Now nobody knows about its whereabouts. Similarly, nobody knows what happened to the timber beams.

Heritage activist Rani Sarma observed, “It is sad to note that so far neither the GVMC nor the endowments department have made any effort to contact heritage experts to re-build a similar structure. The endowments department is simply looking at it merely as a valuable piece of real estate.”

However, convenor of Intach, Vizag chapter, PV Prasad pointed out, “Recently we had a meeting with the present GVMC commissioner Pravin Kumar who offered to rebuild the structure. However, we felt that once a structure is gone, it is gone for ever. It can never be replaced. More importantly, the sum of Rs 65 lakh suggested is a ridiculously inadequate sum to rebuild a similar structure. To rebuild the structure using the same material, it would cost nothing less than Rs 2 to 3 crore. Hence, we suggested to the commissioner that they build large models of structures such as Kurupam Market, Round Bungalow ( former residence of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan) and the famous Gali Meda of Bheemili which have all been knocked down.”

Prasad claimed that the present GVMC commissioner, the district collector and the present Vuda chairman are keen on preserving the heritage of Vizag and are working on forming a permanent full time conservation committee.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Venkatesh Bayya, TNN / November 29th, 2015