Conservationists' fight to protect ‘Perfect Unanimity', the British-era building on the Marina

The Hindu

3 days ago

The building housing the office of Director General of Police (DGP) on the Marina is called 'Perfect Unanimity.' But, about 30 years ago, it became the source of discord between the then AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) government and a host of concerned residents of Chennai, as the former had planned to demolish the 19th Century heritage structure and raise a '10 storeyed and elegant' complex for the Police department. Thanks to sustained efforts of a band of dedicated conservationists, the authorities had eventually dropped their plan and gone about strengthening the Victorian-era building, which continues to serve as the headquarters of the Police department.
The episode of the campaign to save the DGP office complex was recalled by many, while mourning the passing of veteran architect-conservationist Tara Murali in Chennai last week. She, along with a host of prominent residents of Chennai, had successfully fought hard in saving the building from demolition.
It all began in April 1993 with the then Chief Minister Jayalalitha (as her name was spelt then) announcing, during her reply to the debate in the Assembly on the demands for grants to the Home department, her regime's plan to construct a new structure. At that time, she made only a brief reference to the plan. More details came three months later when she visited the DGP office, the first Chief Minister to do so after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's founder and her predecessor C.N. Annadurai.
A news report in The Hindu on July 28, 1993 stated 'the new complex of the office of the Director General of Police, to be constructed at the existing site on the Marina here at a cost of about Rs. [ ₹] 15 crore will have all facilities and become a landmark for the city. At the same time, care would be taken to ensure that the building comes up in harmony with the existing natural surroundings.'
A number of reports and articles published by this newspaper traced the origins of 'Perfect Unanimity.' Free Masons of Madras, as the city of Chennai was officially known in the 19th Century and most of the 20th Century, was the owner of the property. The Police department took the building initially on lease for seven years from July 24. 1865 at the monthly rent of ₹ 90.
It was on June 11, 1874 that the government acquired the building for ₹ 20.000 and spent ₹ 10.000 more on additions and repairs. Alterations and extensions were made in 1909 to accommodate the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) wing of the overall Police department which was formed in 1906. The main reason adduced by the authorities then for the new building was space constraint in the 19th Century structure in view of the growth of the Police department. In Tamil Nadu, it was in 1979 that the post of DGP was created to head the department. [At present, as per the sanctioned executive strength of the department, there are 14 DGPs, 18 Additional DGPs, 44 IGs (Inspector General), 37 Deputy IGs and 173 Superintendents of Police, in addition to other ranks].
The opposition to the operation against the DGP office complex came in March 1994, when many prominent citizens including former Union Minister C. Subramaniam, former DGPs K. Ravindran and V.R. Lakshminarayanan, leading writer R.K. Narayan, veteran musician Semmangudi R. Srinivasa Iyer, ace tennis player Ramanathan Krishnan, film actor Kamal Hassan and journalist-writer S. Muthiah had appealed to the then DPG S. Sripal to withdraw the demolition proposal. Representatives of the Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG), for which Tara Murali was an advisor, and the Environmental Society were also signatories of the appeal. Explaining in detail why the operation should be halted, the citizens had mooted the idea of converting the building into a museum of police history, if the building could not be used to suit the department. P.T. Krishnan, senior architect, said it should not be difficult to renovate the building which had no structural problem.
However, a month later, Jayalalithaa told the Assembly that a sum of ₹3 crore had been allotted for construction of a new DGP office complex on the Marina. In the meantime, competitive designs were invited from archiects for the proposed building. In October 1994, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the new complex. At that time, she did not touch upon the controversy but she said her intention was that the new building for the police headquarters should be a 'magnificent landmark,' which would adorn the sea front with matching beauty. She also observed that ' our emphasis must be on constructive correction rather than on destructive denigration.'
A positive outcome of the demolition operation was that another heritage structure, the 18th-century Government House (Old MLAs' Hostel) on the Omandurar Government Estate received a facelift to accommodate the Police department temporarily. The DGP office had started functioning from the Government House too.In mid-December 1994, the Tamil Nadu regional chapter of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) organised a public meeting to demand the enactment of a law to protect heritage buildings. At the meeting, Tara Murali had moved a plea wherein it was stated that the move would violate existing building rules, set an undesirable precedent that would pose a threat to other heritage buildings and threaten the Marina, the only lung space left in the city. A number of leading personalities including the then Vice-Chancellor of Anna University M. Anandakrishnan took part in the meeting. It was around the time that the Madras HIgh Court stayed the demoliton operation, after being moved by the INTACH. As the legal battle went on, there was a regime change in the State in May 1996 when the DMK returned to power. Three months later, the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced in the Assembly that his government would not go ahead with the previous regime's decision of demolishing the DGP office building. Two years later, he declared open the renovated DGP building on the Marina. Subsequently, an annex was also built.
When Jayalalithaa (by then adding an additional 'a' to her name) returned to power in May 2001, her government, in late 2003, announced that a new building for the DGP office would be built on the Film City complex in Taramani over 24 acres at a cost of ₹ 30 crore and the present building would be converted into a museum.
However, nothing much was heard about this proposal. 'Perfect Unanmity' is still performing its traditional duty of providing accommodation to the Police department. The campaign, launched by conservationists including Tara Murali about 30 years ago, made it possible.