Several historic and heritage relics have fallen by the wayside in the city, and will soon disappear unless urgently restored.
The twin commemorative arches constructed for the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1875 stand dilapidated. The one at Fairlie Place near Dalhousie Square is a refuge for street urchins. The second, at Esplanade, has turned into a bus shelter.
A neo-classical fountain on the premises of the Vidhan Sabha erected in the memory of civil service officer William Fraser McDonnel is blocked by a queue of cars parked in front of it. An aatchala terracotta temple tucked away in the bylanes of Kumartuli is falling to pieces with a public urinal in front of it. A marble fountain of Greco origin called the Panioty Fountain in Curzon Park stands forlorn without repairs.
Several heritage groups and enthusiasts have evinced their interest in restoring these relics but nothing has come of it so far.
The pictures of these structures taken on March 24 shows their current state of decrepit. Restoring these will not cost too much.
The Baneswar Shiv temple in Kumartuli; (right) the Panioty fountain at Curzon Park that need repairs
Recently, Calcutta Heritage Collective, a five-year-old group of heritage enthusiasts, announced their intention to restore these structures. “We have got them documented and an estimation of costs has also been done,” said Mukul Agarwal of CHC.
The Calcutta chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) has proposed to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to restore the arches and the fountain, but is yet to get permission from the authorities.
“The West Bengal Heritage Commission has given us permission to restore the McDonnell Fountain and the Panioty Fountain, but we are yet to hear from the other departments. We have done an assessment of costs for restoring the McDonnell Fountain, which is around Rs 23 lakh,” said G.M. Kapur of Intach, Calcutta chapter.
The Prince of Wales commemorative arch at Fairlie Place and Esplanade were both put up by Nawab Abdul Ghani C.S.I. and his son Nawab Ahsunullah Khan Bahadur, the Nawabs of Dacca, according to the inscriptions on these arches, deciphered with great difficulty.
The Fairlie Place structure is a fine piece of architecture in a combination of artificial stone ashlar masonry and stucco, with ornamental domes which are broken at the crowns. “The arch could be restored at a cost of Rs 4 lakh,” said Kapur. Intach has done a study and cost estimation.
The Baneswar Shiv temple in Kumartuli has a blue plaque of the KMC declaring it as a Grade I heritage structure. The red terracotta temple is in ruins with an overgrowth of trees and bricks on the outer wall are broken. There are constructions on all sides of the temple, including a public urinal right in front. Inside the temple, there is a touchstone Shiva linga that is worshipped.
The marble drinking water fountain called the Panioty Fountain at Sidhu Kanhu Dahar, earlier known as Curzon Park, is named after Demetrius Panioty, a member of the Panioty family who had moved to India from Greece as traders back in 1750.
Intach proposes to restore that, too, but nothing on the ground has happened so far. “We require confirmation of the authorities on water connection, lighting arrangement and maintenance, post-restoration,” said Kapur.