The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to assign grades to heritage buildings in the city that have yet to be graded.
The mayoral council of the civic body passed a proposal to grade such buildings at a meeting on Wednesday.
Heritage structures have four grades — I, IIA, IIB and III. The protection enjoyed by a Grade-I building is the highest.
A committee headed by late historian Barun De had prepared a list of about 1,300 buildings, statues, gates, parks and other built structures that were listed as heritage structures.
The committee submitted its report in 1998, according to a document available on the website of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
Subsequently, a sub-committee, alThe trimmed list, which was published by the KMC as the Graded List of Heritage Buildings, has 917 structures listed and classified into gradesso headed by De, was formed to grade the structures. This committee trimmed the original list and also graded the structures.
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The list has 611 Grade-I structures, 197 Grade-IIA structures and 109 Grade-IIB structures. No Grade-III structure is mentioned on the list.
The trimmed list was adopted by the KMC in 2009.
“Around 380 structures on the original list were not included on graded list. Those structures will be examined now,” said a KMC official.
According to the graded list, “no external change will be permissible” for a Grade-I structure. “Use of the building should also be compatible with the category of the heritage building.”
The protection enjoyed by a Grade-IIA structure is the “same as Grade-I for the heritage building”.
“But new construction may be allowed in the open land within the premises II in compatible manner with the heritage building. In no case should new construction obstruct the view of the heritage building,” the graded list says.
As for Grade-IIB heritage structures, “horizontal and vertical addition and alteration of the building may be allowed in compatibility with the heritage building”.
Grade-III structures, which enjoy the least protection, can be demolished. “A plaque depicting the history of the building should be provided. Where the structure is having no architectural importance, demolition of the structure may be allowed,” says the graded list.
A member of the KMC’s heritage conservation committee said the committee would review the “grade-pending” structures.
“ There are many grade-pending structures. It was once thought that they would be deleted from the long list. But the KMC finally decided against deleting them,” said the member.
Many of such structures are worthy of being listed as heritage structures, while some may not deserve a grade. The review will help distinguish them, said the member.
A few months ago, there was a proposal to pull down Uttara cinema, which is a “grade-pending” structure. A visit by members of the KMC’s heritage conservation committee and some research revealed that many Bengali films of the silent era were screened there.
“We found the cinema hall had an association with the growth and development of cinema in India and Bengal. The committee graded it IIB,” said the committee member.
“Kolkata has layers of heritage. We should not pull down everything in a mindless manner,” said the member.
The review can also reveal that some structures mentioned on the original list do not merit a grade. “Over the years their condition may have become so weak that there is no logic behind grading them,” the member said.
