The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) has urged chief minister Nitish Kumar not to demolish old buildings in the Patna collectorate area.

It claimed these were heritage structures that must be preserved. "The Patna collectorate buildings are a unique specimen of architecture carrying a history of over 200 years within its walls," reads the petition submitted to the chief minister. The petition mentions how the collectorate buildings, Patna College's main administration building and remains of the opium godown in Gulzarbagh are the last surviving signatures of Patna's Dutch history. The move to demolish the old buildings has, therefore, "shocked not just scholars, historians, architects, but commoners too, both in and out of Patna and Bihar". The general feeling is that the old historic buildings should be preserved for posterity.

Signatories include retired judge Uday Singh, historians Surendra Gopal and Narayani Gupta and former director-general of customs, excise and service tax department Birendra Kumar Singh.

Experts say some of the buildings in the collectorate area are remnants of Dutch and British architecture. Parts of the Patna collectorate building featured in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi.

The art, culture and youth affairs department had referred to the Patna collectorate as a heritage structure in its book, Patna A Monumental History, published in 2010. An entire page is dedicated to the collectorate. The book says the Old Judge's Court building (now record room) is a Dutch construction that initially served as a saltpetre godown. The pillars on both sides of the building's verandah, supporting the roof, are in Roman Doric style.

The state government has been planning to demolish various buildings in the Patna collectorate area since 2011. It had to hold back its decision after the Bihar Rajya Zila Parishad Karmachari Mahasangh filed a petition against it in the Patna High Court in 2013. The court ultimately ruled saying it was for the government to decide what had to be done with the collectorate building.

District magistrate Sanjay Agrawal said the building construction department had declared the Patna collectorate buildings unsafe. "This is why the government has decided to demolish existing buildings."

But J.K. Lall, convener of Patna chapter of Intach, criticised the government decision. "The combination of Golghar, Morison building and collectorate can be a great tourist destination," Lall said.

"Patna College also happens to be a Dutch building. See how well it is maintained," Patna University history teacher Bharti S. Kumar said. "If the government has a problem with the collectorate building, it can shift it to a new building but the present building should not be demolished."

Kunal Dutt, an independent researcher who has started an online campaign against the state government's move to demolish the Patna collectorate, said it was a shame that the government first decided to call the collectorate a heritage structure and then decided to bring it down.

Retired American architect Norman Jackson, who now lives in Australia, supports Kunal. "I would love to come and see the collectorate and know about Patna's Dutch history," he said. "Dismantling the building would rob the city of its history and glory."

Building construction department principal secretary Amrit Lal Meena said: "Let the petition come, only then can we take a call."