KMC to come up with digital resource centre at Town Hall

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will come up with a digital museum-cum-resource centre at Town Hall, the renovation work of which is almost over.

"The history of Kolkata and its transformation over ages will come alive through the museum. IIT Kharagpur has been entrusted with the responsibility of making the museum and they are now preparing the DPR. We hope to start work for the museum as soon as the renovation of the Town Hall building gets over completely," said Debasish Kumar, Member, Mayor-in-Council (Parks & Gardens).

Kumar heads a committee that has been formed by Mayor Firhad Hakim, for supervising the work for renovation and creation of the museum.

Kumar added that the museum will act as a resource centre and will be of immense help for somebody who wants to take up research on the history of Kolkata. The history of Kolkata will be brought alive in three stages. There will be information of very old families like the Seth, the Basak and Sabarna Roy Chowdhury, details of Maratha invasion, naming of the city as Alinagar by Nawab Siraj Ud Daulah, the arrival of East India Company etc. The Bengal Renaissance, Sepoy Mutiny, freedom struggle, famine of 1943, the 1946 riots, and even Amartya Sen and Abhijeet Vinayak Banerjee winning the Nobel prize will be a part of the museum.

It may be mentioned that restoration work for the Town Hall that was made in Roman-Doric style in 1813, became absolutely necessary because the heritage building had suffered severe natural damage because of its old age.

"The renovation work executed by the state Public Works Department (PWD) has been carried out in a way that the heritage of the building is preserved completely. We have made it retrofit so that it is earthquake proof," a senior official of KMC said.

As it was constructed over 200 years ago, the building was not fit to withstand earthquakes. "The renovation of the building is almost over and we are hopeful of unveiling it soon," Kumar said.

The restoration of the building that is going on for nearly two years is entailing an expenditure of approximately Rs 18 crore. Town Hall is an important structure from the engineering, architectural and historical point of view.