‘Expedite completion of gradation of all heritage buildings in city’

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s Member Mayor in Council (MMiC) Swapan Samaddar, in charge of the Heritage wing, has instructed completion of gradation of all the heritage buildings in the city.

It came to MMIC’s notice there are still 100 odd buildings whose gradation are pending. “I have directed the Heritage Conservation Committee to complete gradation of the 100-odd buildings as fast as possible and submit an action taken report to me. The residents of the non-graded heritage buildings cannot take up repair and maintenance work which causes inconvenience to them,” Samaddar said.

In March 2023, KMC began the gradation of 350 heritage buildings in the city. In over 10 months, 250 such buildings were graded. Grade I, Grade IIA, Grade IIB, Grade III are assigned by the KMC. For this, its Heritage Committee weighs the structure or precincts, architectural value, age, national and local importance, physical condition etc. The idea of blue heritage plaques was borrowed from London where similar plaques are installed at residences of eminent persons or places of heritage value.

The plaques come with a note on historical significance to inform native and foreign tourists about its history. Out of 1300 odd heritage buildings in the city, 1000 were graded before Covid pandemic period.

In Kolkata, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) has installed blue plaques in over 50 heritage buildings, including eateries and social clubs.