Sabitri Lodge (top) and the MJN Hospital in Cooch Behar; two of the six sites identified by the north Bengal nodal committee for heritage preservation. Pictures by Main Uddin Chisti

Cooch Behar, June 25: The north Bengal nodal committee of the state heritage commission has recommended heritage tag for Cooch Behar town.

Members of the nodal committee, who visited the town on Thursday, have also asked for a heritage tag for six century-old buildings in the town and the ruins at Gossanimari, 40km from Cooch Behar.

Chairperson of the committee and vice-chancellor of North Bengal University, Arunabha Basumajumdar, held a meeting with the zilla parishad sabhadhipati Dilip Biswas and Cooch Behar MLA Sukhabilas Barman at the district guest house on Thursday to discuss the according of heritage status to the town.

“Old temples, mosques and buildings adorn this town and there are different styles of architecture that make Cooch Behar one of the most beautiful towns in the state. We have taken a decision to recommend to the State Heritage Commission that Cooch Behar be accorded heritage town status,” Basumajumdar said.

The six edifices that have been shortlisted by the committee are: Sabitri Lodge, built in 1888, the Naba Bidhan Brahmo Mandir constructed in 1886, the Brahmo Samaj that came up in 1873, the 150-year-old magazine and sentry post, the Rajmata ward of the MJN Hospital that was set up in 1909 and the water tower.

Basumajumdar said the commission was likely to make the announcement before Durga Puja this year.

Nodal officer of the committee, Ananda Gopal Ghosh, who is also a professor of history at the NBU, said: “There are new constructions that have come up within 100 metre radius of these heritage structures. We have received several complaints from many quarters about them and we are going to send a report to the commission about these structures.”

No constructions are to be allowed within a 100 metre radius of heritage structures.

He said the committee would draw the attention of the heritage commission to the new municipal building on the Brahmo Samaj complex, the open-air theatre on the ABN Seal College campus and new constructions behind the Madan Mohan temple in town.

Secretary of Cooch Behar Heritage Society Arup Jyoti Majumdar said there are about hundred structures in the town that date back to the time of the princely rulers of Cooch Behar.

“There are also a number of ponds with impressive ghats that date back to more than a century. Some of them are well preserved but some are damaged and they should be restored,” he said.

Majumdar said a heritage town status would help bring in funds that could be used to renovate and preserve the structures here and attract tourists.

“It will be an important step to preserve the historicity of Cooch Behar,” he added.

CAPTION: Sabitri Lodge (top) and the MJN Hospital in Cooch Behar; two of the six sites identified by the north Bengal nodal committee for heritage preservation. Pictures by Main Uddin Chisti