The house in Chitpur, opposite Jorasanko Thakurbari and close to the Vivekananda Road crossing, has been the home of two well-known personalities. Before 1930, freedom fighter Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandy lived here.
In more recent times, one of the richest men in the world lived here and went to school in an institution close by.
Like the 200 and more tenants who live in single-room flats in Ganesh Garh today, steel tycoon M.L. Mittal would call it his home at the beginning of his career. And his son, Laxmi Niwas, went to Nopany Vidyalaya.
The current landlord of Ganesh Garh, Amar Chand Lakhotia, a former tenant himself, has for some time, been trying to evict the tenants to build a highrise on the 52 cottahs that the building covers.
Now, almost overnight, mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya has given it a new lease of life. He has declared Ganesh Garh a heritage building and has sent for consideration the plea of the tenants to the heritage committee.
He has also declared that tenants who have lived in a building for a long period of time cannot be evicted.
Mrinal Ghosh, deputy secretary, municipal affairs, has in a letter dated August 25 to Anup Mitra, special officer, public grievance cell, Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), requested the latter to take appropriate measures regarding the building?s preservation and repair.
The house is at 263, Rabindra Sarani (earlier 374, Upper Chitpore Road, according to the building plan dated 1894). Once part of the Cossimbazar Raj Wards Estate, it changed hands in 1995. 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 1995, Great Bengal Properties finally sold the building to Lakhotia for Rs 24 lakh. The CMC declared the building unsafe on March 5, 2002.
