Have you seen the imperial
building with 40-ft columns on Sovabazar Street that once belonged to Bengal's
pioneer industrialist Janaki Nath? Or visited the quaint garden house of Raja
Rammohan Roy on Amherst Street? Did you look at the beautiful two-storied
exposed brick bungalow on Loudon Street that was once owned by Joygopal Sen? Or
marveled at Nalini Ranjan Sarkar's sprawling house with its unique two-level
portico on AJC Bose Road?
Chances are you've
unknowingly passed by some of them and even visited one. Let's give the same
addresses a different name to jog your memory. Janaki Nath's house is now the
Jorabagan Traffic Guard; Roy's garden house is Kolkata Police Museum; Kolkata
Police commissioner now resides in the house that was once owned by Joygopal
Sen and the Security Control is now housed in Nalini Sarkar's house.
Some of the city's
most architecturally significant buildings are in the possession of Kolkata
Police. While some of them are prestigious addresses and house the official
residence of the CP, the force's headquarters and its museum, most of them are
functional police stations and barracks where heritage and architecture have
never been a concern, leading to ungainly additions and alterations.
That is set to
change now with special commissioner of police-II (traffic) Soumen Mitra taking
a personal interest in restoring the built heritage. "Kolkata Police has
some of the finest Raj-era buildings in its possession. We have drawn up a list
so that they are repaired and restored. Since they are all functional
buildings, there have been incongruous additions. These additions will be
dismantled and the buildings spruced up," said Mitra.
While the exterior
will be restored to the original shape, the interiors will be modernized
without affecting the superstructure. "We are in the process of making
changes in the police stations to improve the work environment and also make
them presentable. Clutter will be removed, unwanted paper and furniture will
go, illumination will be improved and ergonomically designed work stations will
be provided. Stress will be on use of IT-enabled systems to reduce
paperwork," he explained.
Among the police
stations that Mitra has in mind are Park Street, Bhowanipore, New Market,
Burrabazar, Hare Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Shyampukur, Narkeldanga and
Taltala. There are also three traffic guards — Jorabagan, Shyambazar and East —
that are in the list of 30 buildings to be gradually restored.
Mitra and his team
will receive a fillip on Wednesday when the KMC-Intach Heritage Award 2013 will
be handed over to the force for the restoration of Limelight Building on Rippon
Street that once belonged to the likes of Maharaja of Nuddea Kshitish Chandra
Roy and Sarajubala Devi, the queen of Bhowal.
The building was
proposed to be demolished in 2004. But the decision was revoked to save the
historic structure. Now restored, the building christened Limelight will serve
as venue for police-citizen interface.
"Kolkata
Police has glorious buildings in their possession, some of them not-so-well
maintained. But these buildings are still standing proud and have not been torn
down because they have been with the force. If Kolkata Police does repair and
restore these buildings, it will go a long way in preserving the city's built
heritage," said Intach Kolkata convenor GM Kapur.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Kudos-to-cops-for-keeping-Raj-heritage-alive/articleshow/45196822.cms
