Historians, architects, heritage lovers welcome SC stay on Patna Collectorate demolition

Historians, conservation architects and different heritage lovers have heaved a sigh of aid and expressed happiness over the keep by the Supreme Court on the demolition of the centuries-old Patna Collectorate, with some saying it could ship a “strong message” to the society on “preserving our rich past indiscriminately”.

Spread over 12 acres on the banks of Ganga, the long-lasting collectorate complicated contains one of many final surviving signatures of Dutch structure, particularly the Record Room and the outdated District Engineer’s Office.

The prime court docket had on Friday ordered established order within the case, two days after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had laid the inspiration stone for its new complicated and a slew of different tasks forward of the Assembly polls.

Noted historian Irfan Habib stated it’s a “great news for all those who care for built heritage, from conservationists to common man, fighting a battle every day to save heritage from the onslaught of modernity”.

“The stay on demolition, at a time when bulldozers were almost ready to roll in to bring down the historic structures of the collectorate, will also reaffirm people’s faith in judiciary when heritage is facing a losing battle in Patna and so many other old cities,” he stated.

The historian underlined that outdated buildings, particularly of such significance because the Patna Collectorate, “lend character to a city” and the Bihar capital, being a historic metropolis, these landmarks give a “sense of continuity to multiple generations”.

“Erasing these landmarks will not only erase an important piece of history of Patna, it will erase the identity of the city of Patna,” he stated. “The government should preserve and restore these buildings indiscriminately and not look at them through a colonial prism.” Patna-based writer Surendra Gopal who has been advocating preservation of the collectorate and different unprotected landmarks, hoped “a brighter future awaits” the uncared for constructed heritage of his metropolis.

The case, which started with two PILs filed within the Patna High Court by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in August 2019, had rallied heritage lovers from Patna to the US, with area consultants and customary individuals alike interesting to the authorities to spare the demolition and as a substitute join it to the tourism circuit.

On September 1 this 12 months, the excessive court docket disposed the case and allowed the federal government to take “necessary consequential action” after the newly-formed Bihar Urban Arts and Heritage Commission — consisting solely of presidency officers — advisable demolition, claiming the construction had not a lot “architectural, cultural or aesthetic values”.

The Bihar authorities, which proposed the demolition in 2016, has been claiming that for the reason that Dutch constructing of the collectorate was used as a warehouse to retailer opium and saltpetre a couple of centuries in the past, it was “not a heritage structure”, drawing sharp response from historians, students and consultants.

Architect and conservationist Yashaswini Sharma, who has been related to the battle to avoid wasting the long-lasting Asiatic Building in Bengaluru, was thrilled to know concerning the apex court docket keep after the INTACH filed a plea mid-September difficult the excessive court docket order.

“A building’s heritage value is not lessened just because it was an opium warehouse at some point in history,” Sharma stated. “It is the unique architecture, material heritage, the skills used in making the building that matters. And these were built by our labourers, making it even a more significant piece of heritage.” The writer of ‘Bangalore: The Early City’ stated to dismiss a constructing as “not a heritage” simply because it saved opium as soon as, was “myopic and smacks of ignorance and coloured view of the policy makers”. The excessive court docket ought to have weighed within the matter with deeper understanding of historical past and architectural heritage, which it appears it didn’t, so the INTACH appealed within the Supreme Court,” she added.

In 2016, the then Dutch ambassador, Alphonsus Stoelinga, had written to the chief minister, interesting to protect this “shared heritage” of the 2 nations and had it listed underneath the Archaeology Department.

The British-era constructions in its complicated embody the DM Office Building and District Board Patna Building.

In 2016, a public motion named ‘Save Historic Patna Collectorate’, led by residents from varied walks of life, was launched to avoid wasting the historic landmark from demolition.

Mumbai-based conservationist Kamalika Bose stated the apex court docket aid was “much-needed and it would send a very strong message to both the government and the society at large to “preserve our past indiscriminately for the current and future generations”. “Bihar government has not been listening to people’s voices, and I hope now they will and save this landmark. The new collectorate can be built anywhere else on a fresh piece of land without harming heritage,” she stated.

The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, has sought response from the Bihar authorities inside two weeks on the plea filed by the INTACH.

High court docket lawyer and heritage activist Kumar Shanu alleged that “in the name of opium warehouse, the government has attempted to delegitimise the historical value of the collectorate”.

“The Hon’ble High Court of Patna has not acknowledged or even heeded to the complete facts of the case and principles developed by previous landmark cases on such a subject,” he argued, including: “I am happy the apex court has given a relief for the time being”.

(This story has been printed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content)

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