The Post Master General Office at PMG Junction stands tall as one of the city’s iconic structures, testimony to its cultural and architectural richness.
It joins an array of such structures that are examples of indigenous and of the grand neoclassical and the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Now housing offices, institutions, and the like, they remain victims of time and ignorance.
To conserve the PMG’s office, the Department of Posts’ engineering wing had approached the State’s Department of Archaeology. The Archaeology department acted in 2018, conserving the roof to prevent leaks at a cost of ₹48 lakh.
Then came the second part of the proposal to conserve the facade and the structure, on which the Archaeology department began work a couple of months ago. The maintenance work showed that pollution and retention of moisture had weakened the brick matrix as well as the lime mortar’s binding.
The deterioration was probably aggravated when an earlier maintenance painted several coats of synthetic distemper over the exposed brick masonry. The painting had clogged the pores of the bricks, leading to the peeling off the surface of the bricks, especially on the wall just above the plinth. Even the granite stones on the building corners and towers had been painted over.
The department had to use multiple techniques to remove this paint. Newsprint pulp mixed with hydrochloric acid had to be used to peel off the paint layers. A tedious process, it required repeated application. Once done, the mortal joints were filled fresh with lime after which a mix of lime mortar, fine sand, and herbal ingredients was applied and covered with a water-based protective coating to give the bricks an original finish.
Another issue was the large-scale dampness found near the lower portions of the structure’s wall, particularly near the plinth, indicating subsoil water rise through capillary action. Drainage system and installation of AC units on walls increased the problem. The courtyard that was at a higher level than the building foundation and its slope contributed to the increase in dampness in a corner of the building.
The building had developed cracks too owing to construction of taller structures nearby as well as use of heavy machinery for nearby road works. Lichens too were growing on the bricks. An Archaeology supervisor said if possible, bathrooms or washbasins would be relocated. If not, waterproof epoxy paint would be used to repel the dampness.
Other flaws that needed rectification included repairs of majority of the doors and windows. Also, original bricks in 50% of the inside walls was seen bare after alien materials such as cement came off the base.
Vegetative growth had emerged through the cracks, some of which had been filled with cement. However, rainwater entered the structure through these cracks. As part of the conservation, the cracks would be filled using steel bars, lime mortar injected, and then plastered over. The tar sheet covering the lime-plastered surface of the terrace would also be removed.
