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Time of India

HC gives ASI 6 weeks to submit report on Clive House restoration

1 2 Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Kolkata, to submit a report within six weeks on Clive House, the residence of the first British Governor of Bengal Presidency, Lord Clive. It is situated at Rashtraguru Avenue under South Dum Dum Municipality in North 24 Parganas. A division bench of justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De passed the order acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking the restoration of Clive House, now in its withered remains. The division bench directed ASI, Kolkata, to include in its report the status of the building and suggest ways for its renovation and restoration. The Clive House was shrouded in obscurity until 2000 when the ASI took its possession and declared it a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata Counsels for the petitioners, SN Mookherjee and Bikram Banerjee, submitted to the court that 20-25 squatter families were residing on the premises, which had been witnessing unauthorised constructions. "The structure is fragile, vulnerable to collapse, and lacks regular maintenance," the counsels said. ASI counsel Ashoke Chakraborty endorsed the plea. Counsels pleaded with the court for its restoration in view of its historical significance and the archaeological importance of the area. Clive House came into prominence with the discovery of decorated early historical pottery from the archaeological mound upon which the structure stands. The ASI not only took possession of the house, it also undertook excavation work, revealing the earliest habitations in the history of Kolkata. The house has a reference in the written accounts of the British officers. Robert Orme was possibly the first to mention this house in 1798 in a publication named 'A History of Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan'. R C Sterndale in 1891 wrote about this building, calling it one of the oldest existing buildings in Bengal, though not in its present form.