113 year-old law college to be shifted to Sriperumbudur

By Sureshkumar/ C Shivakumar

Chennai:
The historic 113-year-old Dr Ambedkar Government Law college is likely
to be shifted to Sriperumbudur from High court premises in the next
two years, according to University sources.

Uncertainty over the fate of the college, which is functioning from
the 152-year-old Madras High Court structure, sparked protests from
the students on Monday morning as rumour spread that the college would
be shifted immediately following a Public Works  Department report
which termed the structure housing the college premises as “unsafe”.

Students conducted a rally and tried to picket the secretariat
following which the police arrested them.

An official from Dr Ambedkar Law University said that the college
would be permanently shifted to Sriperumbudur following the direction
of the first bench of Madras High court. “It will take atleast two
more years to shift the college,” he said.

“We have already explained to the protesting students that the college
would not be shifted in the near future following which the students
withdrew the protest.

Interestingly, the report by the PWD over the safety of the structure
housing the college premises has also been referred to the government,
an official source said, adding that government is contemplating on
shifting the college premises. Public works Department said the
structure is unsafe following Chennai Metro Rail’s underground work.

When Express contacted Chennai Metro Rail on the safety of the
building, a Metro Rail official said that the heritage structure is
safe as per the study done by IIT Chennai.

“It is only PWD which has certified the structure is unsafe. They
wanted to shift the students as a precautionary measure,” a Metro rail
official said.

“They have not provided us with the report. But all the heritage
buildings are being monitored by experts from IIT Madras as well as
Chennai Metro Rail. The heritage structures are safe,” he said.

The college has been classified as ‘Grade 1’ heritage structure by the
Justice E Padmanabhan Committee report which lists the heritage
buildings in the city.

The building was designed by architect Henry Irwing of the colonial
British Empire. The building represents Indo– sacranic style, a
combination of both Muslim and Hindu culture built during 1891