Patna, Oct 20 (PTI) The construction of a multi-storey modern complex of the Patna Collectorate is “nearing completion” and is likely to be inaugurated soon after Chhath Puja in November, according to officials.
The new complex comprising three high-rise buildings along with surface and basement parking facilities has replaced a cluster of heritage buildings from the Dutch and British periods which formed the old collectorate, and were demolished in 2022 as part of the redevelopment project.
Eight Tuscan pillars which earlier adorned the frontage of the now-razed Dutch-era record room of the old collectorate have been preserved, and these will be displayed prominently in the new complex in a dedicated plaza, a senior official said.
The main collectorate will be housed in the central building with ‘G+5’ floors and a basement, with the district magistrate’s office on the top floor.
The sprawling complex spread over 10 acres is located along the banks of Ganga in the heart of the city, and faces the historic and eponymous Collectorate Ghat.
Two blocks, each having ‘G+4’ floors and a basement, are located on the eastern and western sides of the main block. The east block will house the office of the District Board Patna while the west one will have the offices of the SDO and the DDC, a senior official said.
“The construction work that began on May 18, 2022, is nearly complete, and the target is to finish it by October 31,” the official said.
“Chhath Puja is around the first week of November, and soon after that the new collectorate is expected to be inaugurated,” he told PTI.
Another official in the Building Construction Department, which is constricting the complex for the district administration, also said the inauguration is likely to take place “soon after Chhath Puja”.
Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh carried out an inspection of the project site twice in the last one week on October 14 and October 19, and instructed the concerned officials to finish work by October end.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who inspected the project site in recent months, is expected to inaugurate the modern complex.
The Collectorate Ghat, which is inaccessible to people from the side of the collectorate’s site since the beginning of construction work, has traditionally been a Chhath ghat too, and prior to 2022 devotees used to gather and some used to even camp for few days in its compound during the festival held over four days.
A passageway has been provided adjoining the fencing of the new collectorate and the boundary wall of the historic Bankipore Club in its vicinity to reach the ghat side from the main street in front of the collectorate.
In 2016, the Nitish Kumar government proposed to demolish the Patna Collectorate to make way for a new complex, sparking huge public outcry and appeal to save it from various quarters in India and abroad.
In early 2016, the then Dutch Ambassador to India, Alphonsus Stoelinga, wrote to the Bihar chief minister, appealing to him to preserve the historic Patna Collectorate as a “shared heritage” and have it listed under the state archaeology department.
In 2019, Delhi-based heritage body INTACH took the matter to the Patna High Court and eventually the Supreme Court in 2020.
Hearing the petition filed by INTACH, the apex court on September 18, 2020, ordered a stay on the demolition of the old collectorate, which brought some relief to the heritage lovers.
However, the joy was short-lived as on May 13, 2022, a division bench of the top court rejected the plea for preservation, paving the way for its demolition.
The bulldozers rolled in its sprawling campus the next day, as dismantling began with the 1938-built District Board Patna building being the first to face the blows. In the next few days, the British-era structure as well as the Dutch-era record room building were reduced to heaps of rubble, triggering grief among heritage lovers and Gandhians.
Some of the key scenes in the Oscar-winning film “Gandhi” (1982) directed by Richard Attenborough were filmed on the old Patna Collectorate campus featuring the record room and the British-era as DM office building.
In 2016, the London-based Gandhi Foundation too wrote a letter appealing to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to not dismantle the historic landmark and instead celebrate its iconic architectural heritage.
The centuries-old landmark was neither listed under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) nor the Bihar state archaeology department.
Ironically, it was listed as a heritage structure in the 2008 publication by Bihar government’s art and culture department — ‘Patna: A Monumental History’ — and also found mention on the Bihar Tourism website. PTI KND ARI
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