Kolkata :

The Hooghly isn’t just an Indian river but belongs to the world, historian and international authority on heritage conservation Philip Davies said at a seminar on heritage based urban development for the Hooghly riverfront held in the city on Wednesday.

Referring to the former European colonial posts—the Portuguese settlement in Bandel, Dutch in Chinsurah, French in Chandannagore, Danish in Serampore and Engligh in Barrackpore—along an 80-km stretch of the river’s western bank, Davies said the West Bengal government could source funds from the European Union as well as the World Monument Fund to revitalize these heritage precincts.

“The built heritage of West Bengal is greater than the entire United States and can be a powerful economic driver for the state,” Davies said while pointing out that much of it was crumbling and needed immediate repairs.

Conservation architect Manish Chakraborti agreed that the Hooghly riverfront heritage had an outstanding universal value and felt the way forward was to put it on the Unesco tentative list for world heritage sites. “Once it is on the list, the goal will be set. We can all then strive to achieve it,” he reasoned.

But stitching together a site that extends nearly 80 km along the river bank and covers Dalhousie Square, the central business district of a bustling metropolis like Kolkata, isn’t easy. This is particularly so about Kolkata and Bengal where things move at a snail’s pace.

Davies and architect Partha Ranjan Das have had a taste of it in the past. While it took Moe Chiba, the section chief and programme specialist (culture) Unesco, nine years to bring all stakeholders, including Kolkata Port Trust, Railways and PWD, on a single platform, Davies had prepared a blueprint for restoration and development of the Strand Warehouses in Kolkata 12 years ago but it is yet to take off. Das, too, had prepared a land use development plan for the entire heritage stretch along Hooghly but it has been gathering dust as well.

“There has been enough talk. It is time for decisive action,” Davies said at the seminar organized jointly by Unesco, the state government and non-government organization Indian Heritage Cities Network. “The inertia here is frustrating when compared to what is happening elsewhere. Kolkata has been extremely slow in taking advantage of its heritage resources. The delay could lead to destruction of what is unique. Already, one of the warehouses has been lost. Letting the warehouses rot is a dreadful waste of opportunity. In the past 50 years, they could have fetched crores of rupees in income and generated many jobs. Political will is needed to drive such an initiative. The involvement of chief minister and mayor is crucial,” he said.

While the heritage precincts in the erstwhile colonies have been identified and some restoration work funded by Dutch and Danish governments has already begun, Davies suggested that one of the options to fund the initiative could be to use cross-subsidy.

“There are areas along the riverbank that can be developed by private parties. The development will be in sync with the overall master plan. The funds generated from these projects can go into restoring the heritage zones and bringing them back to life,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / October 04th, 2015