Soon, scan QR codes to get a peek into history of blue-plaque properties in Kolkata
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Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is planning to install QR codes next to blue plaques installed on grade I heritage buildings. People will be able to learn about the building's historical or architectural importance upon scanning the code.
KMC MMiC (heritage and environment) Swapan Samaddar announced this on Friday while responding to councillor Biswarup Dey's proposal that the civic body should publish a guidebook on the heritage buildings to increase awareness among citizens and draw tourists. Kolkata served as the capital of British-ruled India from 1772 to 1911.
A senior official from the KMC's heritage and environment department told TOI that blue plaques had been installed on 540 grade I heritage buildings over the past two years.
"We roped in private agencies to get the blue plaques installed. The work is over," he said, adding that the civic body's would now focus on putting up the QR codes."We will discuss it with the heritage conservation committee," he said.
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According to KMC records, 717 structures have been identified as grade I heritage by the civic body. Of these, 540 heritage buildings have the blue plaques. "The rest of the structures include Howrah Bridge and statues where it is not possible to put up the blue plaque, which is only meant for heritage buildings," the official stated.
Some of the prominent buildings with the Kolkata heritage blue plaques include Jorasanko Thakurbari, Swami Vivekananda's ancestral house, Indian Museum, Sovabazar Rajbari, Metcalfe Hall, Presidency University, Minerva Theatre, Thapar House, Tripura House, and Patthar Kothi, among others.
During the KMC House discussion, Dey asked about the measures taken by the civic body to save the heritage buildings of the city from promoters.
He also referred to the 19th-century poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt's Kidderpore house that has been hanging in balance owing to a legal dispute.
The MMIC asserted that the civic body was keeping tabs on the heritage buildings and no work, even if it was repairing, could be done without the nod of the heritage conservation committee. Mayor Firhad Hakim told reporters that no hoarding would be allowed to be hung on any heritage building .
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