The Karnataka High Court has allowed the state government to convert the Balabrooie guest house in Bengaluru, which has trees that are nearly 200 years old, into a Constitution Club for legislators. The heritage building on Palace Road was proposed as the location for the Club by the state government. However, a public interest litigation (PIL) challenged this in the High Court, alleging that trees were being indiscriminately felled across Bengaluru city. Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi on Tuesday, January 17, directed that the Club should be established without harming the heritage building and felling any trees on the premises.
Additional Government advocate Prathima Honnapura submitted that no harm would be caused to the heritage building and no existing trees on its premises would be cut down. The government informed the High Court that there are 159 trees in the Balabrooie Guest House premises and none of them would be cut. Recording these submissions, the Court allowed for the Constitution Club to be set up at Balabrooie.
The decision has left activists disappointed who feel that the government should consider the overall perspective before going ahead with the plan. Priya Chetty Rajagopal, founder of Heritage Beku, told Deccan Herald that it is an important connecting stretch, and the frequent movement of ministers could worsen traffic problems.
Why is the guest house controversial?
In 2014, citizen groups in the city came together and managed to stop a plan to demolish portions of the guest house. Meera Iyer, convener, INTACH Bangalore, revealed that there was a similar proposal as far back as the 1970s to demolish the bungalow.
The surrounding gardens of the guest house, which has hosted several luminaries including Rabindranath Tagore, Jawaharlal Nehru, M Visvesvaraya and Mahatma Gandhi, are considered to be an ecosystem in themselves. A team of experts, including former secretary of the Forest and Environmental Department AN Yellappa Reddy and the Bangalore Environmental Trust team, conducted a survey in 2021 at the location and found that the 3-acre property is home to trees that are more than seven decades old, including species like banyan, mahua and cycas. Ornithologist M Sridhar has also documented 50 rare bird species to be found here as well.
The controversy surrounding the guest house stems from the absence of a proper heritage protection law. Citizens groups in Bengaluru say that over the years they had involved experts to formulate a charter for this and even presented it to the state government, but nothing came of it. The Bangalore Urban Arts Commission (BUAC), was set up to monitor the city’s heritage buildings and was functional until 2001, but was reportedly dissolved for opposing the then government’s proposal to build Vikas Soudha.
In April 2020, the Karnataka government passed the Zonal Regulations (Amendment), 2020, under which the BUAC would be revived and help in protecting heritage buildings. However, experts feel that the BUAC can function effectively only if there is proper representation in the Commission, consisting of experts and citizens from the general public.