Fair and Square

City historian P Thankappan Nair sums up the historical essence of Dalhousie Square succinctly: ‘‘It’s a common heritage of the world, built by the English and inherited by our people. The Americans supplied ice, the Chinese got their opium from here and the Swedes built the Protestant church.’’

To ensure the awareness percolates down to the masses, the WMF—the world’s largest private, non-profit organisation for heritage conservation—in association with the West Bengal government and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is organising a two-day workshop to prepare a conservation plan for the area.

‘‘The WMF has sanctioned a grant of $7,500, which will be used to restore a facade of a heritage building,’’ says G M Kapoor, INTACH convener. ‘‘It’s good news for the heritage site in general and Dalhousie Square in particular,’’ adds Manish Chakraborti of Action Research in Conservation of Heritage.

The WMF, however, constitutes only one side of the conservation coin. The other side reveals a familiar tale of funds-scarcity, unenforceable Acts and unallotted responsibility.

Consider the Currency Building. After weathering nature and apathy for 10 years, the building was handed over by the city public works department (PWD) to the Archaeological Survey of India in February. The iron scaffolding was erected a month ago, but the building is yet to get a thorough wash.

‘‘The work will happen soon,’’ says B Bandopadhyay, superintendent archaeologist, ASI. ‘‘We have prepared a detailed restoration plan and submitted it to the ASI office in Delhi. But we haven’t set a deadline for the completion of the project.’’

Some buildings in PWD charge—including Writers’ Buildings and the Calcutta Collectorate—were spruced up in the recent past. But other than that, says PWD secretary Kalyani Choudhury, they have no plans for Dalhousie Square.

THE neglect shows. The brickwork on the upper facade of the Standard Chartered Building is exposed. Even the Tricolour atop the building is a faded shadow of its former self; it was not replaced even on Republic Day.

While the West Bengal Heritage Act, 2001, makes it incumbent on owners or managers of heritage properties to preserve the structures, those who have their offices in such buildings point out that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation offers few incentives for pro-active conservation.

But that’s only part of the story. While admitting that the Heritage Act lays the onus of preserving heritage buildings on owners/managers, a senior KMC official says, ‘‘But we aren’t ensuring strict compliance, considering their socio-economic conditions. We know certain buildings like the Standard Chartered building and the Royal Insurance Building are not maintained properly. But we are also aware of the constraints of those who manage these buildings.’’

Conservationists feel that neglect can be addressed through proper laws. ‘‘The upkeep of a heritage structure is an expensive proposition. Those who own such buildings should get some incentives like tax relaxation and the right to develop a non-heritage building they may own elsewhere,’’ says Kapoor of INTACH.

The issue is further complicated by the fact that the Dalhousie Square heritage buildings are occupied by scores of offices. Complains an official of a company that occupies a major portion of the StanChart building, ‘‘We ought to get some incentives. We run commercial establishments, but aren’t allowed to make even minor alterations, though we have less floor space here than we would have in new buildings.’’

As the laxity over the enforcement of the Heritage Act indicates, the authorities are not completely immune to the predicament of heritage building owner/managers. ‘‘If they give us a proposal on their demands—tax relaxation or whatever—the KMC will definitely consider them,’’ says Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.

‘‘The West Bengal Heritage Act is just four years old and we are open to suggestions for the preservation of the heritage buildings,’’ adds Nishit Shom, secretary, West Bengal Heritage Commission.

Considering there are 1,400 heritage monuments in the state, good intentions are at least a start.