Mysuru: Heritage structure collapses

Shyam Sundar Vattam| NT  

Mysuru: Several students and a few lecturers had a narrow escape when a portion of the Maharani College for Women, a heritage structure, collapsed on Friday due to heavy rains in the city in the last one week.

The college was started by Mysuru king Nalvadi Krishnaraj Wadiyar over a hundred years ago to promote higher education among girls. The institution is situated on the busy Jhansi Lakshmibai Road in Mysuru.

This morning, a chemistry laboratory class was scheduled to be held in the building where the science faculty classes are held. Two lecturers entered the lab on the first floor and saw water oozing from the roof and pieces of cement plaster falling down.

Sensing trouble, they informed principal D. Ravi who decided not to hold the class in the room. Within minutes of the students and lecturers leaving the lab, the entire portion of the building came down with a big bang.  

Fire & Emergency Services personnel rushed to the spot to ensure that no one was trapped inside the collapsed building. Maharani Degree College is the fourth heritage structure to collapse due to the callousness of the state government. Already, a portion of Devaraja Market, Lansdowne building and the Fire Station have collapsed.