Redlands Row: Good Old Banal Human Incompetence As The Demolition Squad
The Manipur government owns the Rajbari plot in Meghalaya's Shillong; the Manipur Planning and Development Authority made the detailed project report (DPR) on the request of the Art and Culture Department; the Planning and Development Authority is also the implementing agency, and Manipur-based Meitei Construction Ltd took the contract in 2023.
Initial criticism pointed at Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, and Manipur Governor AK Bhalla because Sangma visited Manipur around the time workers demolished the Rajbari in Shillong, and Manipur is under the President's rule. But that turned out to be the happenstance of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. There is no evidence they had anything to do with the demolition.
The facts, however, point to a comedy of errors at many levels, especially in the Planning and Development Authority.
The time lost in chasing the ghost of conspiracy theories could have been used to see whether the fault came from inside the house before shouting at neighbours.
A picture is beginning to form after talking to sources in the departments concerned. Work on the Rajbari in Shillong began even before Manipur came under the President’s rule. Some who are involved closely in the project went to Shillong often in the last few months to check on the work.
The latest Manipur government statement said: “As a first step, dismantling of a dilapidated part of the building was taken up. However, there was an apprehension that the remaining part of the building may collapse due to instability and weakness of the structural elements. Hence dismantling of the whole structure was necessitated and done manually with due care. The dismantled structures like wooden doors, windows and wall plates, etc have been properly stacked and stored for reuse. The old structure has been properly documented by taking photographs and videography.”
The picture is that the officials made a technical call as they went along with the project, and did not consider it necessary to consult others, not due to any ulterior motive, but as a matter of habit and maybe due to ignorance and incompetence.
That is why many leaders expressed the same surprise as the public when reports came that engineers had razed the heritage bungalow in Shillong.
No grand design or conspiracies played any part in the comedy of errors that the reliable, dependable, good old banal human incompetence produced.
The deed has been done, we cannot turn back time, and a government committee of experts has been formed to monitor the reconstruction.
“The committee may engage or co-opt heritage conservation experts for ensuring maintenance of aesthetic integrity and heritage value of the historic structure,” the government said on Monday.
The only relief can come from the authorities making the new ‘old’ building so good that it encourages the public to let bygones be bygones.
For more reading: This piece by the journalist Pradip Phanjoubam explains it better.
