New Delhi: In a letter to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a group of eminent persons say the Benoy Badal Dinesh Bag (Dalhousie Square) and College Square areas in Kolkata should be declared as heritage precincts and Hindustan Park/Lake Temple Road/Dover Lane as Art Deco heritage zones to preserve their historic character.
The letter, signed by Amitav Ghosh, Aparna Sen and Ashish Nandy among others, says that historic neighbourhoods are among Kolkata’s greatest assets but are “vanishing irretrievably”. Unlike Mumbai, Delhi, Puducherry, Ahmedabad, and other cities, West Bengal’s capital city does not have any heritage precincts, they pointed out.
“The precincts in these cities have been the focus of worldwide attention; the absence of precincts in ours must be of concern to you, given the pride you take in Bengal’s secular modernity,” the letter says.
In heritage precincts, unchecked construction and development should be regulated they said and houses that are both architecturally unique and climate-congenial should be protected, it added. In green/biodiversity zones, the identification of green cover and declaration of the biodiversity zones that are still extant within the city’s neighbourhoods and streets – not just parks, but clusters of trees, green spaces, and gardens around houses that are host to a variety of plant, bird, insect, and animal life – whose survival is absolutely essential for the long term in the age of global warming. Green cover and biodiversity comprise a gift that our historic neighbourhoods have given the city.
Read the complete letter below.
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To
The Honourable Chief Minister of West Bengal
Honourable Chief Minister,
Eight years ago, in 2015, we sent you a letter to do with Kolkata’s architectural heritage, asking for urgent reforms in, and additions to, heritage laws, and for heritage precincts that would protect the city’s historic neighbourhoods from demolition to be declared. The letter was signed by eminent individuals from Bengal and across the world who see immense benefit in conserving and reusing the unique architectural inheritance we are fortunate to have in Kolkata. Alongside that letter, I also sent you an eloquent letter of support from Professor Amartya Sen.
Although there’s greater consciousness of what’s at stake in this matter than there ever has been before in Bengal, this is not reflected by government policy or by the workings of the municipal corporation. Historic neighbourhoods, among the city’s greatest assets, are, as a consequence, vanishing irretrievably. The fact that Kolkata, which claims to be the nerve-centre of the history of Indian modernity, still has no heritage precincts while Mumbai, Delhi, Puducherry, Ahmedabad, and other cities do is a matter of perplexity. The precincts in these cities have been the focus of worldwide attention; the absence of precincts in ours must be of concern to you, given the pride you take in Bengal’s secular modernity.
Our immediate request to you is to declare Benoy Badal Dinesh Bag (Dalhousie Square) and College Square as heritage precincts and Hindustan Park/Lake Temple Road/Dover Lane as Art Deco heritage zones and then take steps necessary to preserve their historic character. This would not only boost the city’s economy; it would energize its cultural life. We would be glad to participate actively in this process.
You have spoken about the special dangers that Bengal faces from global warming and taken steps to preserve and nourish the Sunderbans mangroves’ protective wall. Still, the fact that new studies have, since, further established that Bengal is in profound danger, that heat has risen to unacceptable levels, and that Kolkata’s overheating is leading to catastrophe means that short-term measures (like the periodic closure of schools), while they are necessary, will not suffice. We would ask you to consider two measures urgently.
- Heritage precincts: The regulation of unchecked construction and development (a major contributor to the present overheating), and the declaration of heritage precincts to protect houses that are both architecturally unique and climate-congenial.
- Green/ biodiversity zones: The identification of green cover and declaration of the biodiversity zones that are still extant within the city’s neighbourhoods and streets – not just parks, but clusters of trees, green spaces, and gardens around houses that are host to a variety of plant, bird, insect, and animal life – whose survival is absolutely essential for the long term in the age of global warming. Green cover and biodiversity comprise a gift that our historic neighbourhoods have given the city.
Decisions regarding these need to emanate from you; there will be little change otherwise, and no change at this point quite genuinely means disaster.
We have reason to believe you will act.
Yours sincerely,
Amit Chaudhuri, writer and founder of Calcutta Architectural Legacies (CAL)
1st May 2023
with
Pranab Bardhan, Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Dipesh Chakrabarty, Professor, University of Chicago
Partha Chatterjee, Honorary Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
Swati Chattopadhyay, Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara
Rosinka Chaudhuri, Director and Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
Sukanta Chaudhuri, Professor Emeritus, Jadavpur University
Supriya Chaudhuri, Professor Emeritus, Jadavpur University
Amitav Ghosh, writer
Tapati Guha-Thakurta, Honorary Professor, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
Bonani Kakkar, founder, PUBLIC
Pradeep Kakkar, founder, PUBLIC
G M Kapur, Director, INTACH, West Bengal Chapter
Chittrovanu Majumdar, artist
Partha Mitter, Professor Emeritus, Sussex
Ashis Nandy, Honorary Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
Aparna Sen, filmmaker
Rabindra Vasavada, Chairman, Academic Council, INTACH Heritage Academy, New Delhi
Dorian Wiszniewski, Senior Lecturer, Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture