When historic markers in Chennai are demolished without explanation

Restoring heritage buildings or for that matter precincts is fraught with many risks. One of these is the carelessness with which commemorative plaques and other markers vanish. Thus, the recent redevelopment or whatever else it is called of Nageswara Rao Park in Mylapore saw the plaques at the entrance that record the donors of the space vanish. The local councillor claimed they were well preserved and then they were discovered, consigned to what can only be called a rubbish heap. They have since vanished again, though it is claimed they have “been taken care of,” which in Tamil can mean many things.

The perils when historic buildings are demolished to make way for new blocks compound such risks many times. The descendants of Dr. M.R. Gurusamy Mudaliar for instance are asking as to why his name has been removed from a block at the Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) when the structure was rebuilt recently. Enquiries with the local authorities revealed nothing. Which is indeed a pity. The good doctor of course has other markers – a road in his name at Kilpauk, a statue of his outside the General Hospital and a school that he endowed. Another school has come up in recent times at Periamet as well. But then, a block in a medical college is probably what he would have cherished the most.