'Heritage aspect compromised at RBU's Jorasanko campus'

KOLKATA: The Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Tuesday visited the Jorasanko campus of Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) to find out whether there has been any deviation in respect to heritage aspect of the building.

According to members of the HCC, there has been change in the size of the door, the floor level has been elevated and the heritage structure has been compromised also with the construction of the ceiling. The stones that were found to be used in construction were also not conforming to the heritage aspect. The Jorasanko campus of RBU building is categorised as grade I heritage.

The Calcutta High Court in a recent judgement had asked the Bengal government to ensure that heritage structures at the Jorasanko campus of varsity are not tampered with.The directions came in the wake of a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed at the Calcutta High Court alleging that a few of the rooms at Thakurbari's Maharshi Bhaban are being used as the office of an association and a couple of other rooms in the campus have been remodelled.

"The court has asked us to submit a written report about whether there has been any change in the heritage context as per the 2009 Heritage Act. We will do the needful," Himadri Guha, a member of HCC said.Vice-Chancellor of the university Sabyasachi Basu Roy Chowdhury said: "Whatever has happened in the university campus took place in our ignorance. Construction work was stalled immediately after the HC's intervention. We will act as per directions of the court." According to the PIL, the room in which Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay interacted for the first time has been remodelled and Maharshi Bhawan was illegally occupied by an office of varsity's workers' wing.