State govt officials, film stars to participate in heritage walk

KOLKATA: The State Heritage Commission, for the first time, will be organising a heritage walk on Saturday as part of the World Heritage Week being celebrated from November 19 to 26.

The walk, aiming to create awareness about conserving the city's heritage structures, will start from St. John's Church and will have the participants visiting some important heritage structures in the surrounding areas of BBD Bag, like the Writers' Buildings, GPO and Currency Building etc. Apart from the members of the Commission and senior state government officials, eminent film and theatre personalities, players and people from different walks of life are expected to participate. State Heritage Commission has identified around 124 structures of historical importance across the state. Plans of including Bishnupur in the UNESCO Heritage Monuments are on. The Commission has submitted all the relevant documents for review.

It will soon start conservation work for three important sites including the Mahisadal Rangibashan Rajbari, a 150-year-old structure in East Midnapore, another being House of Alexander Duff on Nimtala Ghat Street. It was set up by Duff to spread English education in Bengal. Later in 1908, the then Commissioner of Police Sir Charles Tegart had converted it into Jorabagan police station. With the KMC declaring it a dilapidated structure in the early 1990s, Jorabagan police station got shifted to another building.