The city's heart needs care

KOLKATA: When the British started building around the Lal Dighi in what was then called Dalhousie Square, Dilli' was just about emerging from its haveli culture' from within the folds of the Red Fort and Mumbai stood for the seven fishing villages on the coast of Arabian Sea. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then and Kolkata has been relegated to the status of a decaying city, thanks to a lack of effort on our part to preserve our heritage and showcase it as the beginning of modern civilisation in the country.
Dalhousie Square, or BBD Bag as it is known today, was the seat of British power and was designed on the lines of London with a purpose.The intention was to provide some comfort to the hundreds of British civil servants who worked there. Among the famous structures that dot the area are Writers' Buildings, Royal Exchange, St John's Church, General Post Office, Currency Building and the St Andrew's Church. Among the modern-day structures are the Telephone Bhavan and the Reserve Bank of India, which incidentally was the first highrise in the country to have an escalator.
Unfortunately, little effort was made to preserve this heritage. The Lal Dighi, which predates Job Charnock's arrival to the city and has been witness to incidents such as Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah's attack on the old Fort William (where the GPO now stands), watched as its eastern bank was converted into an ugly bus stand and the surroundings were taken over by all kinds of riff-raff in the garb of hawkers.
"The situation is so bad that it is difficult to walk along the pavements, thanks to the scores of hawkers. Even smaller cities like Bhubaneswar have sorted out their hawker problems by setting up green kiosks at designated locations. I wonder why something like that can't be done here," said bank executive Rohit Kumar Sharma.
While work has started to repair the pavements and there are plans to get rid of the bus terminus, clogged drains is a problem that leads to severe waterlogging, particularly along the pavements. With a new government in power, the number of hawkers is going up by the day. In the afternoons, the pavements along important thoroughfares turn into open-air eateries. By early evening, the surroundings are strewn with garbage. Elsewhere, hawkers are busy peddling all kinds of stuff, from toys to fake deodorants and hakimi medicine to cure impotency.
"Encroachments will have to be removed. If such illegal activity can take place within a stone's throw from the state secretariat, what could be happening elsewhere in the city? Trouble is that even the law enforcers break the law here. Police vans remain parked along the main thoroughfare throughout the day. While there is some semblance of order in the main square, the side roads are in extremely bad shape. People relieve themselves along the wall of the Currency Building. If the city is to be promoted as one that is actually moving forward, this part of Kolkata needs a facelift," said an official from the state urban development department.
While the state needs to take care of its own buildings, those owned by the central government will have to be restored and maintained by the concerned ministries. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has restored the pavement in some parts and installed decorative lamps that resemble those used during the days of the Raj.
"This is a good initiative. The entire area should have similar lighting and other features like benches where people can rest for a while. There is need for better traffic management to ensure that vehicles don't get held up in this area for long periods. This would help prevent damage to the heritage structures due to the noxious fumes. Better signage is required to inform visitors of the buildings and structures in the area," said a RITES official. This central government enterprise has been asked by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to come up with a plan for development of the area.
It was a shame when BBD Bag was included in the World Monuments Watch in 2004 and 2006 by the World Monument Fund (WMF). The reason given was that the area had faced decades of neglect'. After this, international funds were made available for the upkeep of this heritage square. But then, funds were never a problem really. What has been lacking is any real interest on the part of those concerned.