Heritage ward Gavipuram sits pretty on paper

BANGALORE: Gavipuram, marked as thecity's first heritage ward, is in danger of being forgotten. Last World Heritage Day (April 18), a public announcement was made to develop a model heritage zone in and around historic Gavipuram (earlier called Gavipura) area of South Bangalore. Both politicians and city-based organizations gave it a big thrust, but over a year later, nothing has moved.The project wasplanned in association with Intach, Bangalore chapter, but the agency is in thedark. "It's more than a year since the government assured us that Gavipura wouldbe developed as a heritage ward. But the detailed project plan is not yet ready.We at Intach are also waiting to hear about it. We had a meeting with the MLArecently but there's been little progress," Sathya Prakash Varanashi, IntachBangalore convener, told TOI. The area has three corporators and twoMLAs to take care of it, yet there are no answers for the delay in executing theproject, announced as part of budget 2009-10. The heritage zone includes a 2.5km corridor: from Dodda Ganapathi temple to Mallikarjunaswamy temple and Deer Park at the other end, with the Kempambudhi lake in the centre. A major chunk of this corridor comes under Hanumanthnagar ward. "Wehave been planning it for two years now, though not much has taken off. We hopeto complete it soon,'' Basavanagudi MLA L Ravi Subramanya explained. BBMPofficials, however, maintain that the project has already been tendered and is20% complete. SLICE OF HISTORY Ancient Gavipuram area isnow distributed between three wards and two assembly constituencies. Recordssuggest that this area is at least 800 years old and begins with the GaviGangadeshwara temple. Historians suggest that it has been a settlement sinceKempegowda I founded Bangalore in 1536. "The Gavi Gangadeshwara temple was oneof their family temples. Gavipura also talks about the ecological footprint ofthe area and how communities moved. The lake is in a valley and the settlementcame up on the hillside,'' said Varanashi. Old-timers recall howmany cricketers of the 1960s were also from this area. Dolphin Club, once partof the Kempambudhi lake area, was among the city's first swimming clubs duringthe 1920-30s. There was also a garadi mane (gym) for wrestlers.