New forum to save heritage

Kolkata: Encouraged by the response to his impassioned writing bemoaning the destruction of the city's identity through demolition of architecturally significant houses, writer Amit Chaudhuri on Monday announced the launch of Calcutta Architectural Legacies (CAL). It is an initiative aimed at creating awareness and preventing Kolkata from going the Pune or Bengaluru way.
Instead, the initiative hopes to inspire the city to turn to South Mumbai, London, Edinburgh, New York City, Istanbul, Berlin and Marrakech, where architecturally vibrant neighbourhoods have become sites of creative innovation.
Earlier, Chaudhuri's writing had touched a chord with many, including Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and artist Chittrovanu Mazumdar.
CAL will kick off with three programmes over Friday and Saturday - a talk by Mumbai-based artist Atul Dodiya at Parna Kutir on Hindstan Park; a street enactment at Justice Chandra Madhav Road and Allenby Road and discussion between prominent developer Sushil Mohta and house owners who don't want to sell. All these areas have lost scores of houses to multistoried buildings.
"Our attempt is to ignite a movement that goes beyond monuments and landmarks to buildings that add to the character of a city. Citizens must realize that they have a role to play," said Chaudhuri. CAL is supported by artist Chittrovanu Mazumdar, architect Partha Pratim Das, conservation consultant GM Kapur, ad guru Ram Ray and activists Bonani and Pradeep Kakkar.