Get your damaged documents restored free at this palace

Tripunithura: Public had lost valuable documents during the recent Kerala deluge. Government agencies have launched special programmes to help them replace lost documents such as those on identity, property, investments, education as well as subsidised healthcare and food.

The Centre for Heritage Studies at Hill Palace here is witnessing a rush for restoring documents damaged in the floods. So far, around 6,000 documents were delivered at the centre from formerly marooned areas and nearly 700 of them were returned after restoration, said Dr V R Shaji, who is in charge of the work.

The centre has the technical know-how to restore documents made of paper, palm leaves or metal plate if they were damaged by the floodwaters.

Meanwhile, the officials at the centre have warned people not to dry the soaked documents under the sun or by keeping it near fire. If this is done, the documents may crumble, they said. Instead, such documents should be wrapped with a cloth or paper and sent to the Heritage Studies Centre. The documents received by the centre for restoration include land deeds, financial instruments, academic certificates and bank papers. All this commendable work is done at the facility free of cost.

Hill Palace, which is the largest archeological museum in Kerala, was once the seat of the Kochi royal family.