Patna, July 28: If all goes well, the four remaining galleries at Bihar Museum - regional art, contemporary art, historical art and Bihari Diaspora - will be inaugurated this October.
"The date for inauguration of the four galleries has been fixed to October 2," museum additional director J.P.N. Singh on Wednesday said.
Admitting that there has been quite a delay in the museum's completion, Singh said: "Fabrication work of four other galleries - history, contemporary art and regional gallery, Bihari Diaspora and visual storage - is in progress. As far as the two other galleries - orientation and children's gallery - are concerned, they will remain closed till October 2."
Chief minister Nitish Kumar laid the foundation stone for the museum in 2013 and it was originally scheduled to open on Bihar Diwas (March 22) in 2015. But it got delayed by five months and opened on August 7, 2015. The Rs 498-crore Bihar Museum is spread over 13.5 acres at Bailey road with a built-up area of 2.5 lakh sq ft.
Only two sections of the museum - children's section and orientation theatre - were thrown open to the public after its inauguration. But these two sections were shut down on March 28 for rectification of construction snags and other maintenance needs. At that time, it was decided that both sections would reopen in April but it did not happen and the opening date was extended by a month. That, too, did not happen.
Additional director Singh said that along with the four new galleries these two sections would be thrown open to the public on October 2.
The total time period for construction of Bihar museum was initially estimated to be 21 months. But, it got delayed for various factors.
The four galleries were scheduled to open in 2016, but the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had on September 16, 2016, directed the state government to stop all constructions in Patna on built-up area of more than 20,000 square metres till the master plan for the city was approved. Work got suspended from September 16 and November 4, Singh said.
"Design faults in design resulting in modifications and additions also account for the delay," a museum official said on condition of anonymity. "There was also some conflict between architectural consultant Maki & Associates and construction agency L&T."
Bihar Museum's Rs 498-crore-outlay had also caught the public eye. Acting on a PIL in March 2015, Patna High Court had asked the state government to justify the huge expense, specifically consultation fee of Rs 22 crore given to Canadian firm Lord Cultural Resources. The court later dismissed the PIL.
Unlike Patna museum, built by the British exactly a century ago, Bihar Museum has the makings of a first-of-its-kind international collaboration. The government has roped in Canada-based Lord Cultural Resources as the project's principal consultants. L&T is building the massive structure, Japan's Maki and Associates and Indian firm OPOLIS are the architects and Singapore-based Kingsmen Group is the exhibition fabricator. The other Indian collaborator is Lopez Design, which is handling the new museum's design and branding.
The museum will soon house at least 25,000 artefacts, which will be transferred from the Patna Museum. Antiques like prehistoric tools, terracotta figurines and coins since the beginning of time till 1764 will be shifted to the Bihar Museum in the coming months. The 2,300-year-old Didarganj Yakshi sculpture, which has been with the Patna Museum for almost 100 years, is likely to be moved to the new museum.
A Patna Museum official said coins that are to be shifted from Patna Museum to Bihar Museum have been identified and the process of cleaning them is currently on. Some Mughal era paintings and sculptures will also be shifted.
"The list of treasures to be shifted has come from the art and culture department."
