Forty-three cottages will be made out of the now out-of-use cells for prisoners in the erstwhile Alipore Jail, now a museum.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation has passed a proposal sent to it by the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (Hidco).
An engineer associated with the project said the cottages or rooms will be spread across four buildings built by the British. “We will not modify the structures in any way. We will only restore, renovate and fit furniture in the cells and wards to make them suitable for living,” said the engineer.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s mayoral council approved the proposal to build the cottages on April 5. The KMC has also written and informed Hidco about its decision.
A KMC official said the Hidco had first approached the KMC several months ago with the proposal to create facilities for living inside the premises. The matter was placed before the heritage conservation committee of the civic body and then placed before the mayoral council.
Following the mayoral council’s nod, Hidco has also appointed a contractor to do the work. “We are expecting that the work to convert the cells and wards will begin within a month. Our aim is to have at least some of the rooms available for booking by winter,” said the engineer, who is involved with the project in an individual capacity.
The cells were meant to house individual prisoners while wards were like dormitories with many prisoners in one long room. Air-conditioners will be installed and toilets will be made out of the available space.
The Alipore Jail Museum is already open to visitors.