services - kerala

and Heri ommimin mber of

ernmen ltmen rnment of

The meeting of the Art and Heritage Commission commenced at 03.00 pm in the chamberof Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department presided by the AdditionalChief Secretary, LSGD as Chairman. List of Participants is attached as Annexure I.

ftem No: 7A

Approval of the minutes of the twenty second meeting

Approved the minutes of the 22nd meeting of the Commission held on 07.06.2017.

Item No:78

Action taken report on the decisions of 22nd meeting

Member Secretary explained the action taken on the decisions in the 22nd meeting of theArt and Heritage Commission. List of action taken on each decision is atLached as AnnexureII"

ffum No: 2

Expenditure for the year 2077-78 for Art and Heritage Commission under H/A2277-80-800-82

The total expenditure during the year 2017-LB under the Head of account 2217-80-800-82for the scheme Art & Heritage Commission amounted to Rs. 6,76,2741- (Six lakhs seventysix thousand two hundred and seventy four only). The Member Secretary explained thedetails of expenditure incurred for various components of the scheme.

The Commission noted the activities and approved the expenditure details of the year20L7-18.

ftum No:3

Plan fund for 'nd Herii mmissiono for 'ear 2078-7

The fund allotment for the scheme during 2018-19 is Rs. 10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten lakhsonly) under the head of account 2217-80-800-82 for the State Plan Scheme 'Art andHeritage Commission'. Break up of expenditure proposed was explained by the MemberSecretary and was noted by the Commission.

Technical Secretarial expendlture, including purchase ofstationeri€s, computers, computer peripherals, storage

devices, olfice furniture including furnishing etQ.,

Technical Secretarial services Computer assistant on

cont!'act basis

Rs.4,7 5,000/-

1 a)

b)

a

c) Sitting fee,

Members of

commissiofl,

invited, POL

Travelling and accommodation expenses to

the Commission and persons nominated by the

Member Secretary & Government and Experts

Charges, Hrring of Vehicles

I

d) Expenditure related to the working cf District Level

Committees of the Art & Heritage Commission

2 Study & Documentation in Conservation and Heritage

Rs. 5 ,25,000/-

a) Study & Documentatior'' works of selected streets/conducting

sem i na rs/workshops etc:.

b) Designing, Updating,

Heritage of Kerala

Department/Agencies

fditihg, Printing and Publication of

series through Public Relations

aDproved by the Government.

c) Purchase of Documents, t-iteratures, Periodicals (Both hard &

soft copies)

d) Developing guidance materials for public awareness/ video

documentation of selected heritage areas

TOTAL Rs. 1010010001-

After discussions the Commission approved the proposal.

The following matters were also discussed with respect to fund allocation.

1. The Member Secretary pointed out that, out of this Rs. 10,00,000,/-, Rs 4,75,000/- is

allotted for the components of Technical Secretarial work and Rs 5,25,0001- is allotted

for the components of Study and Documentation work of the plan scheme 'Art and

Heritage Commission' for the year 2018-19. Since more expenditure than the allotted

amount is expected in the components of Study and Documentation work, permission

was sought to use a part of the amount allotted for the components of Technical

Secretarial work for the components of Study and Documentation work.

The Commission authorised the Member Secretary to decide on the break up of

expenditure.

Z. The Member Secretary requested the Commission to grant permission for providing

sitting fee to the non - official members and permanent invitees of the Art and

Heritage Commission and the Committee constituted by the Art and Heritage

Commission for the scrutiny of applications, appeals and petitions convened by the

Member Secretary.

The Commission decided to provide a sitting fee of Rs 2000/- (Rupees Two thousand only),

excluding TA, to the non-official members and permanent invitees of the Art and Heritage

Commission and the Committee constituted by the Commission.

2

Action by Time limit Monitoring

Member SecretaryAs and when the meeting,is

being held Chairman

Committee

ftum No:4

The Committee constituted by the Commission for scrutiny of applications and petitionspertaining to building construction in heritage zones has considered 155applications/petitions since the 22nd meeting of the Commission. The applications/petitionsfrom Fort Area & Kowdiar Area in -hiruvananthapuram, Canal area in Alappuzha, KalpathyArea in Palakkad and Fort Kochi in Ernakulam were considered in this respect.

The abstract of the action taken by the Commitlee with respect to these 155 applications is

as follows:

Detailed list of the 155 applications is attached as Annexure III.

The Commission ratified the decisions taken by the Committee on the 155 applications.

Item

FortArea &Kowdiar AreaTvpm

FortCochinKochi

Canala rea

Ala ppuzha

KalpathyArea,Palakkad

Kozh i kkode

Others(petitions/cou rt cases)

Total

Concurrence recom mended 39 1 2 4 0 0 46Revision of drawingsconforming to the heritagecharacter 38 0 3 19 0 0 60Placed before theCommission for decision

0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Pend ing for Govern m entdecision 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Rejected d ue to noncom plia nce of the heritageregulations 10 0 0 8 1 0 19Others (petitions/cou rtcases) 22 T 1 3 0 2 29

Tota I 109 2 6 34 1 3 155

ftum No:5

It is seen that, in notified heritage areas of Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kochi and

palakkad, there exists several unauthorized constructions as well as buildings which are not

constructed as per the plan approved by the Committee constituted by the Art and

Heritage Commission for this purpose and which will eventually deplete the heritage

character of the area. The Member Secretary explained the gravity of the issue and the

need for immediate intervention in order to preserve the heritage areas as such.

The Commission discussed the matter and decided to take necessary action against such

unauthorized constructions.

1) Intimate secretaries of the concerned urban local bodies to take necessary actions

against such unauthorized constructions.

Z) Forward such cases through Government to Chief Town Planner (Vig) for quick

verification and rePort

3) Monitoring by Director, Urban Affairs


Member Secretary Im mediate Chairman

ftum No:6

in view of the changing requirements of the inhabitants of the Kalpathy Agraharams with

respect to their dwellings, the Me"nber Secretary highlighted the need for a study on the

socio economic and cultural conditions of the inhabitants of Kalpathy and Lekshmi

Narayana Agraharams, Palakkad.

The Commission granted permission to carry out the study and ratified the decision taken

by the Member Secretary to outsource the work to Vimala College (Autonomous), Thrissur.

The Commission suggested to conduct the study in consultation with the inhabitants of the

area and also to ensure its timely completion.


Town Planner, Palakkad Two months after signing MoU Member Secretary

ftum No: 7

In connection with the 'swadesh Darshan Scheme' various structures were proposed atvarious locations in the premises of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Whileconsidering the matter, the Committee constituted by the Commission for scrutiny ofapplications and appeals observed that conservation/heritage aspects are not taken care ofin the proposal and that the construction activities of many of the proposals have alreadycommenced without obtaining the concurrence of the Commission. As decided by theCommittee, a detailed letter regarding the observations of the Committee was forwarded tothe Executive Officer, Sree Padmanabhasamy Temple and a D.O. letter was forwarded toGovernment in this regard.

The Commission considered the matter and ratified the action of the Member Secretary.

ftem No:8

in the 'Heritage of Kerala-Wavanad'series

With respect to the query on whether permission is required from the Art and HeritageCommission for carrying out any construction activity in buildings/precincts which areincluded in the Heritage listing, the Commission decided that any development,construction, re-construction, addition, alteration, demolition etc. in buildings/precinctsincluded in the published heritage listing of Kerala shall be carried out after obtainingnecessary recommendation from Committee constituted for the scrutiny of applications,appeals and petitions by the Art and Heritage Commission.

In this context, the Commission opined that wider dissemination of the information on apublic domain regarding the heritage buildings/precincts in our State, as well as awarenesson the need for preserving the same is required. Hence the Commission decided thefollowing:

1. Heritage of Kerala series shall be published as e-book/scanned copies in thedepartment website.

2. The published Heritage of Kerala series shall be made available in Municipalities,Panchayats, various departments etc. for easy access to the general public.

3. Prepare guidelines/legislations to categorise the listed heritage buildings and also toprovide necessary incentives for the heritage building owners for its propermaintenance.

4. Awareness campaigns/seminars shall be conducted for the officials in variousdepartments.

Action by Time limit Mon itorinq

Member Secretary

Two months for item no. 1 & 2, and threemonths from the date of constitution of urban

Art Comrnission for 3 & 4 Chairman

5

Item No:.9

The team from vSSC, Thumba along with the Architect made a power point presentation of

the project. The proposal is for the construction of Dr. API Abdul Kalam Knowledge Center

and Space Museum (which comes under Assembly building category as per KMBR '99), in a

plot having an area of t.75 acres by the eastern side of the major road from Kowdiar to

Ambalamukku in the Kowdiar Conservation zone in the sanctioned General Town Planning

Scheme for Trivandrum. The plot has an approximate length of i50 m and width of 55 m

and is around 1 m above the road level. The main palace building is around 150 m from

the plot. The proposal submitted is for a five storied modern building having an area 10600

sq m covered with copper colored sheets with a coverage of 39.53 %0, FAR of 1.5 and a

height of 35 m above ground level.

The subject experts and members of the Commission, Sri. Eujine N. Pandala, Sri. N.

Ramaswamy and Sri. M. Velayudhan Nair, strongly objected the proposal' They pointed out

that Kowdiar palace, being the palace of the Kings of erstwhile Travancore Dynasty, plays a

very important role in the heritage history of Kerala. They opined that Kowdiar

Conservation zone is earmarked in the sanctioned General Town Planning Scheme for

Trivandrum with a view to conserve not only the palace building but its precincts also. They

also stated that such a public building proposed in the precincts of the palace will only

cause damage to the existing conservation zone. Reasons for objections are

1) The five storeyed building (height 35m ) proposed in the road frontage area of the

zone will obstruct the views and vistas of the palace building.

2) The architectural features of the proposed building doesn't depict any heritage

character of the area.

3) Coverage and use of building is not as per guidelines approved by the commission'

4) Conservation aspects are not dealt in the proposal'

Earlier, a proposal for a Habitat centre was suggested in the very same location whose

foundation stone was laid by the then Hon'ble President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. This project

was not recommended by the sub-committee constituted by the Art and Heritage

Commission, and the Art and Heritage Commission accepted the recommendations of the

sub-committee and rejected the proposal in the meeting held on 5.l2.2OtZ (19tn

commission meeting). Member Secretary also indicated that even though

Thiruvananthapuram is a place of rich cultural and built heritage, only two areas (Fort area

& environs and Kowdiar Conservation zone) have been notified as conservation/heritage

areas in the sanctioned General Town Planning Scheme for Trivandrum and hence at least

these two heritage areas shall be .etained as such with minimal or no intervention.

A detailed discussion was conducted with the officials from VSSC. Considering the above

opinions and the fact that the proposed land has been given to VSSC by the State

Government, the Chairman suggested that the present proposal cannot be accepted as

6

such. If presented with modifications suiting to the area and conforming to the regulationsof the conseruation zone. We may reconsider it, since this is a major proposal tocommemorate the Hon'ble past President of India and also taking view of the conservationaspects, it is suggested to submit a revised proposal taking into account the followingconditions:

1) The plot has an area of 1.75 acres. Coverage permitted is only 15% as per theexisting regulations. Since the proposal is a major one of national importance, 30o/o

coverage is recommended.2) The proposed building shall be located towards the northern end of the plot. This is

to obtain maximum vision of the palace from the street.3) Only single storied building above ground level with a desirable height of 4.2m and

a maximum height of 6.0m from road level (Kowdiar - Ambalamukku road) to theridge of the roof is allowed.

4) The roof profile shall be in line with that of the main building of Kowdiar Palace andshall be finished with palace type roofing tiles.

5) Maximum vegetation shall be retained except for the portion where the building is

proposed. Proportionate re-planting with suitable species is advocated.6) Basement floors below the ground level are permitted, if required, But in any case,

the total height of the structure from street level shall not exceed 6.0m from roadlevel

It is also decided to provide necessary information about the conservation zone to all

departments concerned.

ftem No: 7O

Constitution of Sub-committees at district level for the initial scrutinv ofapplications a nd appeals

In order to avoid inordinate delay in processing the applications submitted for theconcurrence of the Art and Heritage Commission, it was decided to constitute District Level

Sub-committees comprising of subject experts to scrutinize the applications in variousdistricts where notified heritage areas exist. Accordingly, Town Planner,

Thiruvananthapuram has nominateo the following three persons for the District Level Sub-

committee.

1. Shri Sarath Sunder, Asst. Professor, Department of Architecture, College ofEngineering, Thiruvananthapuram.

2-. Sri. S. Jayakumar, Archaeological Chemist. Department of Archaeology,Thiruvananthapuram.

3. Sri. Sahuji K.G., Asst. Executive Engineer, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation

The Commission decided to constitute a District Level Sub-committee atThiruvananthapuram with the above said experts and also suggested to include one official

Action by Time limit MonitorinqMember Secretary One month Chairman

from the Office of the Chief

District Level Sub-committee.

for the same in other districts

Town Planner, nominated by the Member Secretary, in the

It is also decided to constitute District Level Sub-committees

where notified heritage areas exist,


Member Secretary

As and when applications

are received for concurrence

of the Commission

Chairman

ftum No: 77

High Sqhool CampuE

The Commission considered the matter

Archaeology to take necessary steps

Attakulangara High School Campus.

and decided to recommend to the Department of

for protecting the built and natural heritage of


Member Secretary &

Department of Archaeology

One monthChairman

ftum No: 12

The Commission decided that the minutes of the Art and Heritage Commission and the

Committee constituted by the Commission for the scrutiny of applications and appeals shall

be published in the website of the Town and Country Planning Department. It is also

decided to make available related data from other departments by providing links in the

dept. website.

a,


Member SecretaryAfter the approval of

minutes of each meetingChairman

The Member Secretary brought to

Rupees fifry crore is allotted for

temples coming under the control

the notice of the Commission that a fund of around

improving the facilities and environment of various

of the Travancore Devaswom Board. The Commission

decided to give necessary instructions to Travancore Devaswom Board that the Art andHeritage Commission shall be intimated prior to the commencement of any kind ofconstruction activity proposed in the temples or its precincts coming under the control ofthe Travancore Devaswom Board in order to preserve and maintain the heritage characterof the temple. The Commission also suggested that the fund shall be utilised for providingvarious facilities such as sanitation, drinking water, safe disposal of solid and liquid wasteetc. Trees suitable to the environment shall also be planted in its premises.

Meeting ended at 6.00 p.m,

Memb

.Rffi1a17

Additional chief Secretary to Government,

Aft & Heritage Coffimission

H\\1lryI

Chairman, Art & Heritage Commission

Action by Time limit MonitoringMember Secretary one month Chairman

Annexure fList of Participants

1Sri . T.K. Jose IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to Government,

Local Self Government Department.Chairman

2 Smt. K. S. Girija, Chief Town Planner Member Secretary

3 Smt, R. Girija, Director, Urban Affairs Member

4 Sri. Rajikum ar J., Director, Department of Archaeology Member

5 Sri" Hydru, Chief Engineer (Buildings), PUblic Works Department Member

6Dr, M, Velayudhan Nair, Former Prof, & Head, National Museum

Institute, New DelhiMember

7Sri . Suresh Kumar S., Senior Superintendent, Panchayat

DirectorateMember

BSri . K. Anil Kumar, Dy. Devaswom Commissioner, TravancoreDevaswom Board

Permanent Invitee

9 Sri. Girish .V.S ,Deputy Chief Architect, Public Works Department Permanent Invitee

10 Sri. Eugene N, Pandala, Architect & Urban Designer, Kollam Permanent Invitee

11 Sri. N, Ramaswaffiy, Conservation Architect, Kollam Permanent Invitee

t2 Sri. K. SanthoshPublic Relations

Kumar, AdditionalDepa rtment

Director, Information & Permanent Invitee

13Sri . Umesh T.N., Senior Conservation Assistant, Archaeological

Survey of India, Trivandrum sub circlePermanent Invitee

L4 Sri. B,K. Balaraj, Joint Director, Urban Affairs

15Sri , Sasikumar 8., Jr, Administrative Officer, Archaeological

Survey of India, Thrissur

16 Sri , K.S. Mohan Babu, Group Director, VSSC Special Invitee

t7 Sri. Gopikrishnan, Project Manager, VSSC

l0