Tread middle path: Heritage panel tells school, KMC
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Kolkata: The West Bengal Heritage Commission on Sunday urged La Martiniere Schools and the civic body to tread a middle path on the eve of a court-directed joint inspection of school, where even regular maintenance work had been affected after the school management became embroiled in a controversy last year.
This path should balance the practical needs of maintaining a nearly two-century-old school premises while ensuring the sanctity of the heritage buildings is retained.
The controversy arose when the school paved the heritage southern steps in the boys' school with marble tiles without seeking permission from the KMC heritage committee.
A senior West Bengal Heritage Commission functionary told TOI neither the commission nor the civic body would pose a hurdle for the maintenance of the buildings at the twin La Martiniere Schools or endanger anyone, be it students, teachers, or staff by stopping the school authorities from carrying out preventive maintenance work.
He added the school would have to adhere to heritage norms. "I wish to assure La Martiniere authorities that if they submit a detailed proposal on the urgent preventive restoration work and the work is overseen by a restoration architect empanelled with KMC, it will be approved.
We do not want seepage to irreversibly damage to the buildings," the official said.
Following a nudge from the KMC last year, La Martiniere appointed KMC-empanelled restoration architect Partha Ranjan Das to advise the school on repairs and restoration of the heritage buildings and oversee the work.
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Das told TOI he had listed the work in two segments: critical, which had to be immediately addressed, and non-critical, which could be taken up later.
The heritage commission official pointed out the school's plea to delist the heritage properties led to a trust deficit and raised questions about the management's intention. "Heritage buildings have to adhere to certain guidelines," the commission official added.
He added that govt authorities in charge of heritage upkeep also needed to be practical to specific situational needs. The Commission expected a pragmatic and sensible way out through discussions.
A vacation bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh and Justice Smita Das De on Friday had directed the team of two KMC executive engineers, a West Bengal Heritage Commission representative and a representative from the three petitioners, including the school authorities, to inspect the school on Monday and decide on the urgency of the repairs, as pleaded by the school. The bench directed the KMC and the heritage commission not to wait for the court order to take a decision but submit a report to court on June 5.
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