Tourism plans for Sarat Chandra village

KOLKATA: Samtaber, a small village on the banks of the Rupnarayan in Howrah district where Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's ancestral house in located, might soon be on the 'must visit' list on Bengal's tourism map.
The state government is planning to convert the village into a tourist spot. Most of the celebrated author's personal belongings are preserved in the house, where he reportedly penned immortal creations like 'Mahesh', 'Ramer Sumati' and 'Abhagir Swarga'.The house will also be renovated.
Apart from the author's 'samadhi', the major attractions for visitors are the writing table and chair used by him along with an armchair in his ground-floor study. The bed used by the author on the first floor is still there and so are some other furniture and books. The kitchen and the puja mandap are also worth a visit.
The village is easily reachable from Deulti station under South Eastern Railways. The government is planning to introduce a bus service, too, from Esplanade.
The house is situated so close to the river that the author could get a direct view of it from his bedroom. But according to irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee, the Rupnarayan is now posing a threat to the house. The department will repair the embankment along the riverfront at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. The house suffered some damage during a flood after which some renovation was done.