Chennai’s heritage buildings keep British legacy alive

Some of them are Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore Railway Stations, Ripon Building and Bharat Insurance Building. Chennai is home to the second largest collection of heritage buildings in the country, after Kolkata. The official list of heritage buildings was compiled by the Justice E Padmanabhan committee. 

A 17-member Heritage Commission was set up in May 2012 to maintain these structures, after a fire accident in Kalas Mahal, a 244-year-old heritage building in front of Marina beach. As per the Commission’s mandate, heritage buildings that are listed will get incentives, such as exemption from payment of taxes, and offenders who deface or destroy them will face penal action.