"No heritage structure is worth preserving if not even ten people visit it every day," said Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak.
"No heritage structure is worth preserving if not even ten people visit it every day," saidu00a0Municipal Commissioneru00a0Jairaj Phatak in an interviewu00a0tou00a0Theu00a0Times of India. The comment was made in the context of the redevelopment plan for Crawford Market.
"The list of 675 heritage structures in Mumbai is too long. If I had my way, I would delete some of the names on the list while preserving those that are important. The Taj Mahal is a symbol of heritage, maybe the Agra Fort is too. But if you include 1,000 buildings on Agra's heritage list you would stop the development of that city," Phatak said.
u00a0"People go to Crawford Market to buy fruit and vegetables, they use CST to commute, not to gaze at the architecture. I am not implying that these should be demolished... but Mumbai needs development not heritage,"' he said.
"If not even ten people from the same ward go to see it, what use is an old building?'' he added.
While the government had the resources to preserve and restore old buildings, private owners found it tough. "It costs more to renovate old structures. Why should somebody pay because his ancestors built a grand house while a neighbour with a plain home can sell it at market value,'' he asked.
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