MYSORE: The demolition of the house of renowned novelist R K Narayan which began here on Monday to make way for an apartment complex came to a halt with the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) proposing to conserve it as a heritage monument.MCC Commissioner K S Raykar has written to the Heritage Department, Kannada and Culture Department and Mysore Urban Development Authority in this regard.The MCC will initiate further action; until then, it has ordered suspension of all work. Sources told Express that a show-cause notice had been issued to MCC Assistant Commissioner Thimmappa for allowing the demolition. It is also said that the MCC has requested the Urban Development Department to allow it to collect heritage cess to preserve all heritage buildings in the city, and demanded a direction to the Department of Heritage to identify such buildings.Raykar told Express that R K Narayan’s house had not been declared a heritage monument, and he had requested the Heritage Commissioner to mark all heritage buildings in the city to prevent builders from buying and demolishing them. There are no other provision in the law to preserve heritage buildings, Raykar added. At a meeting called in this regard at the Commissioner’s office on Tuesday morning, officials said even if the MCC had given permission to demolish the house, it could be withdrawn. They also insisted that the building licence issued to construct the apartment complex should be cancelled.Meanwhile, when Express visited R K Narayan’s House in Yadavagiri on Tuesday, a security guard was posted there and the gates were closed. The guard said morning shift workers had come to demolish the building, but they were sent back.Amid all the din created over its fate, the house, constructed in 1951, now stands without a roof as partial damage has already done to the structure. The doors inside the house have also been removed. Ever since the writer’s death, the house, measuring 100 x 120 ft, has been lying vacant.
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