Calcutta, March 20 :    Calcutta, March 20:  It is difficult to miss this 'Hawa Mahal' in Chitpore bang opposite the seat of the Tagores. Laden with dust though it is, with its rows of small windows and elegant arches facing the tram tracks it could not but be from the deserts of Rajasthan. But like a lot else in this huge sprawling building constructed towards the end of the 19th Century and spread over 52 cottahs, looks are deceptive. To its 200 tenants and their families it is Ganesh Garh. Now the fate of this ornate four-storey building along with that of its tenants hangs in the balance as the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) declared it unsafe in a notice dated March 5, and which reached 263 Rabindra Sarani (earlier 374 Upper Chitpore Road, according to the building plan dated 1894) on March 15. Before that, on February 28, an engineer from the building department of CMC had hung a board on the gate declaring that the building was unsafe. It has been involved in a legal wrangle since 1981, but things have only recently come to a head as the Ganesh Garh Tenants Welfare Association is spoiling for a fight with the Lakhotias who are its current landlord. By all appearances, Ganesh Garh is a dilapidated structure, overgrown with saplings and garlanded with electrical wiring. Besides the residences, there are shops selling marble statuettes, musical instruments and stationery. The ornamental entrance opens on to a huge yard, which has a well and a temple. The main building itself is on the right hand side of the portal and has two courtyards within. The maze-like structure branches off in several directions, which can be reached by staircases. While some sections of the house are swept regularly, most of the narrow stairs are smeared with paan spittle. Most families occupy single rooms and share toilets - one or two per floor. The ceilings look battered, and in one corridor there is a gaping hole above. But there is solid ground underfoot. In dramatic contrast, everything is brand new inside most rooms. These have fancy floors, and some of them show obvious signs of affluence, because apart from shop hands, some rich businessmen call it their home. They are willing to put up with the stench of urine but never part with the boxes they live in. Ganesh Garh was part of the Cossimbazar Raj Wards Estate and Maharaja Sris Chandra Nandy used to be the manager of the estate. In 1967, after the death of Sris, his widow, Maharani Nilima Prova Nandy, and son, Maharaj Kumar Somendra Chandra Nandy, sold it to Great Bengal Properties and Construction Private Limited, one of whose directors was Samit Chandra Nandy, son of Somendra. The property was leased to Laddu Gopal Bajoria. The 50-year lease ended in 1981 and Bajoria went to court so that the lease could be continued. In between, Great Bengal Properties had tried to sell off the building to Chandra Nath Banik, director of Model Land Trust Limited. But the deal fell through after Banik was imprisoned. In 1995, Great Bengal Properties finally sold the building to Amar Chand Lakhotia, a former tenant, for Rs 24 lakh. Bajoria has gone up to the Supreme Court but his case has been rejected. Curiously, on his behalf, his darwan, Lal Bihari Singh, still collects rent. Says Singh: 'Only about 30 tenants pay rent which is a paltry Rs 25-30. The Lakhotias have stopped paying rent since 1995, when they bought the building.' Now the tenants allege that the Lakhotias are trying their best to throw them out. Though no written notice from the Lakhotias to that effect exists, on October 17, 2001, a man claiming to be a bailiff did ask the tenants to vacate the building where they have lived for generations. As the last resort, the tenants' association has sought permission from CMC to carry out repairs on their own. The high court, too, has been moved. The ruling comes soon.