MYSORE, Nov 4: Mysore, a city of palaces and old-world buildings, has seen several such structures going to the ruins either due to a lack of care or disuse. But thanks to the initiative of the seven-year-old Mysore Police Commissionerate, at least one monument -- the Band House at Nazarbad in the heart of Mysore City -- will be spared from becoming just another ancient wreck.

Band House was constructed by the erstwhile Maharajas of Mysore for housing the now famous Mysore heritage, the English Band. Both the English and Carnatic Bands are a legacy of the late king of Mysore, Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar the Fourth, who formed the Police Band. The two bands -- the English and the Indian Orchestra, as the Carnatic Band was then called -- were integrated in 1951.

These bands later came to be known as the Mysore Police Band and then as the Karnataka Government Orchestra when the State was renamed Karnataka. Apart from State banquets, these bands perform during the famous Dasara celebrations and other State functions. They also lent their music during the SAARC meet in 1983.

However, with many renowned musicians in this orchestra retiring over the years, the bands now feature new faces who are recruited by the police department.In course of time, however, the English Band personnel virtually turned Band House into a private club for their activities. The century-old specimen of Victorian architecture went through plenty of abuse, unnoticed and unredeemed.

A departmental inquiry was launched only recently when police officers found five dead lambs inside the building, slaughtered for sale.It was by a stroke of luck that Band House got a new lease of life. In 1990, when the Mysore Police Commissionerate was carved out of Mysore district, a hunt was launched for a place to house the office of the Commissioner in the city.

Though Band House was suggested, the Commissionerate was finally set up in a portion of the Mounted Police Company complex in the outskirts of the city at the foot of Chamundi Hills.

But being situated out of the city had its problems and pressure began to mount to shift the office to a new location to which the common man could have easier access. Eventually, the condition of Band House and the lack of proper vigilance over the Band personnel tilted the balance in favour of Band House and the Commissionerate shifted to its new home.

Hectic activity is now on in and around Band House to restore the structure while keeping the architecture intact. Work has been going on for the past two weeks to restore the city's landmark to its original grandeur even while accommodating the Mysore Police Commissioner, his two DCPs and the Special Branch wings.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.