The impact of Thursday’s explosion at Naihati has caused damage to several heritage and historic buildings, including Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s home, in Chinsurah on the opposite bank of the Hooghly.

A huge explosion that took place while police were defusing what they said were seized firecrackers rocked Naihati in North-24 Parganas, injuring people and damaging houses, and also harmed structures in Hooghly’s Chinsurah.

Local sources said on Friday that several buildings in the area had been affected, the most notable of which was Bande Mataram Bhavan, the home of Bengal Renaissance icon Chattopadhyay. He lived there during his tenure as deputy magistrate and penned Bande Mataram in the house.

Residents of Chinsurah have demanded a thorough health audit of buildings such as Bande Mataram Bhavan and the Imambara that are at least 150 years old.

“The glass panes of several windows were broken on the first floor of Bande Mataram Bhavan, where Bankim Chandra wrote the iconic Sanskrit poem (part of the 1882 novel Anandamath).

“He lived in that house for five years from 1877, when he was deputy magistrate of Hooghly,” said Saptarshi Banerjee, a local historian associated with the activities of the Bhavan, which is looked after by Chinsurah municipality and is open to visitors.

Chinsurah, a former Dutch colony, is home to scores of heritage buildings located mainly along the riverbank of the former trading port.

On Friday, residents of the Imambara area also alleged that the historic building could have been damaged. “The Imambara is one of the main heritage sites in our area,” said Saumitra Singha, a social worker in Chinsurah, referring to the congregation hall and historic mosque in the town.

Sources said the older portion of the mosque, known as Bara-Imambara — constructed at least 300 years ago — had been partially damaged because of the shockwave.

Mohammed Javed, a resident of Chinsurah involved in organising several festivals at the Imambara, said: “A glass door of the Bara-Imambara was damaged and now it can’t be closed properly. Concrete chunks have been falling off different parts of the wall following the explosion.”

Officials of Chinsurah municipality said they had started a survey to record the damage caused to old buildings in the area as well as heritage homes and would seek the government’s help for repairs.

“We came to know about the damage to several houses, including Bankim Chandra’s home and Bara-Imambara. We are conducting a survey and will send a report to Nabanna seeking assistance for renovation,” said Gourikanta Mukherjee, the chairman of Chinsurah municipality.