Queen Victoria’s statue in Dhubri. Picture by Bijoy Kr Sarma

Sept. 17: In 1905, two statues of Queen Victoria arrived in India on steamers from Britain and one of them was installed in Dhubri as a sign of the British empire’s authority over the town.

Over a century later, the lower Assam town is seeking help from the British authorities to restore the lost glory of the five-feet-four-inch white marble statue, which finds pride of place in Victoria Park, overlooking the Brahmaputra.

Monoj Kumar Sarkar, the secretary of the committee, which looks after the park, said: “Since there is a dearth of local expertise to restore the original shine and glory of the Italian marble, we have written to the British High Commission in New Delhi seeking its help. We are awaiting the reply.”

Sarkar said the move was initiated after the state government sanctioned around Rs 11 lakh to develop the park.

During the British reign, Dhubri was an economically important town and ships and steamers with heavy merchandise docked at the town’s ghat, from where the goods where transported to other parts of the state.

The earthquake of 1950 raised the riverbed, making it unsafe for big steamers to ply.

The statue and the park, however, have remained a landmark of the town.

When the park became a hub of gambling and drinking, the committee intervened. The primary work done, the committee now wants to restore the statue’s lost glory.

Over the years, exposure to the vagaries of nature have robbed the statue’s natural shine, turning it into greyish mound.

While one statue was for the Dhubri park, the other was installed in Pune.

Former vice-chairman of Dhubri Municipal Board Subhash Chandra Paul said he had found a mention of Dhubri and the statue of Queen Victoria in the fourth volume of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

In 1968, the Dhubri Municipal Board had written to the British High Commissioner in New Delhi and four of their officials had visited Dhubri to inspect the statue, Paul said.

A few years ago, the park’s custodians contacted experts at Victoria Memorial in Calcutta and they suggested use of multani mitti (Fuller’s earth) to clean the statue.

Dhubri zilla parishad chairman Nazrul Hoque said keeping in mind the historical importance of the statue, the government has released Rs 4.87 lakh of the Rs 11 lakh meant for the statue’s upkeep.