KMC to soon start gradation of 350 heritage buildings

KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will soon start the gradation of 350 heritage buildings in the city. The civic body will also install plaques in these houses describing the reason behind the particular building getting a heritage tag.

“There are many buildings in the city that have received heritage tags but are yet to be graded. The residents of the heritage buildings that are not graded cannot take up repair and maintenance work. So, we have taken up gradation of the buildings on a priority basis,” Swapan Samaddar, Member Mayor in Council of KMC’s Environment department who also heads the Heritage department said.

Samaddar said that 1000-odd buildings have already been graded by the KMC’s heritage wing.

Further gradation of 350 buildings has recently been approved in the recent Member Mayor in Council (MMiC) meeting in the KMC.

The 350-odd buildings that have been identified are mostly located in Central, North as well as in East Kolkata. Grade I, Grade IIA, Grade IIB, Grade III are the various grades that are assigned by the KMC.

While assigning the grade, the Heritage Committee of the KMC weighs the structure or precinct’s, architectural value, age, national and local importance, its physical condition among other such crucial parameters.

Sources in the KMC said that there are some legal hurdles regarding the gradation of some of the buildings. So, there will be a clear-cut explanation behind the gradation of every building.

The KMC has also initiated the process of installing blue plaques in front of heritage buildings that fall under a grade I in the city.

The house of Rani Rashmoni in Janbazar in Central Kolkata has already witnessed the putting up of such a plaque to make people aware of the history of the structures and give birth to a sense of pride in the city among the residents.

Houses in London where famous people lived or epoch-making events took place have blue plaques installed outside.

In Kolkata, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) has installed blue plaques for nearly 50 buildings but most of them are popular heritage structures, including eateries and social clubs.