West Bengal Heritage Commission calls for merging heritage, hospitality & entrepreneurship for conservation

Kolkata: West Bengal Heritage Commission (WBHC) chairman Alapan Bandyopadhyay on Thursday advocated for amalgamation of heritage, hospitality and entrepreneurship for conservation of heritage in the state.

Speaking at a programme to commemorate the occasion of World Heritage Day, Bandyopadhyay said: “Public exchequer will always be over-burdened, especially in a welfarist regime. Hence, we cannot expect to conserve deserving heritage projects out of public funding only. Entrepreneurial public efforts are required for conserving old time heritage with full respect.”

He called for an interface between heritage and hospitality in public private partnership (PPP) mode for conservation of heritage and reiterated that public funding can play a facilitatory role in the form of framing rules and regulations.

According to him, in Bengal, built heritage happens to be legacy of old aristocratic times and post decline of Permanent Settlement. In this backdrop, for conservation of such aristocratic relics, convergence of hospitality, heritage and entrepreneurship is essential.

A number of success stories in heritage conservation that associated these three components were highlighted in the programme. Darshan Dudhoria made a presentation on the rejuvenation of Bari Kothi in Murshidabad into a world class heritage hotel while Pallab Roy presented the transformation of the dilapidated Cossimbazar Rajbari at Berhampore in Murshidabad.

Harshvardhan Neotia, a member of WBHC, opined that there are enough entrepreneurs and sensible architects to take responsibility of reviving heritage buildings but a business model is needed.