Bengaluru: Old Bangaloreans call it a paradise. Art lovers describe it as a ‘cultural reflection’ of Bengaluru. The Tataguni Estates on Kanakpura Road where legendary Russian artist Svetoslav Roerich and his actress wife Devikarani lived once, would welcome visitors with its lush green landscapes and tranquil lakes. But today, the stretch where the 4,568 acre Estate beckoned with its pleasing greenery stands bereft, littered with heaps of garbage.
The road where the Roerich estate was located is now being used for dumping the municipal waste from the city. Post-midnight, the dumping trucks make a stop on the opposite side of the Estate gate and dump their foul-smelling contents. The garbage can be seen on the 1 km stretch on Kanakpura Road which also leads to famous religious institutions such as Yogavan Hills and Art of Living Centre.
The locals allege that the dump trucks are parked on the road after midnight and they wait for the right time to empty the waste. “Sometimes the garbage is brought in minivans and rickshaws. Now even the commuters who travel on this road make a stop here to dump the garbage, thinking it’s a dumping site,” pointed out a local from Kaggalipura village.
Mr S K Aruni, Deputy Director of Indian Council of Historical Research, denounced this as a shameful act and demanded that the government stop mistreating a cultural monument of the city. “As it is the Estate is been neglected by the government for long. The government must ensure that the dumping of garbage is stopped immediately and restoration of the Estate should be taken up. There are no facilities for tourists to reach Roerich Estate from the city, even though it has been suggested to the Tourism Department that it should run buses from the city to the Estate once a week. There will be a number of foreign tourists who would be interested in visiting an estate where a great artist once lived,” Mr Aruni said.
Technically the location of Roerich estate does not fall under the jurisdiction of the BBMP, but it’s clear that the rubbish from the city is now being dumped here. There was also a demand to have GPS monitoring devices for all the dumping trucks but this was not followed later by the BBMP. The Bengaluru Rural administration seems to be oblivious of the garbage dumping as locals allege that dumping has been going on for a number of weeks. In fact, the volume has increased in the recent past since nobody has been questioning the garbage trucks.
“The government must protect the monument at any cost. It’s an important landmark and can be developed as a botanical garden or a biographical museum dedicated to the artist couple. Roerich always dreamed of making his estate into an art centre and the state government can take steps in this direction,” said historian Arun Prasad.
