File photo of the restoration work at the Writers’ Building
PWD minister Ajay Kumar Poddar visited the buildings on Wednesday and issued instructions for completion of work by Oct 9.
Poddar said as of now, the second floor will have rooms for the CM, and five of his cabinet ministers. The group is very much interested in renovation and reimagining of Writers’ and to restore its heritage character and administrative grandeur, according to PWD sources. “From the very day our govt took over, we have ensured that all renovation work is done keeping the heritage and historical significance intact,” said Poddar.
For CM’s secretariat, there will be three rooms, one dedicated to the CM and two others for his security and other state officials, who will be accompanying him. The other rooms will be for Poddar, urban development and municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul, health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee, panchayats and rural development minister, Dilip Ghosh, and tourism and parliamentary affairs minister, Shankar Ghosh. Poddar was upset when he was informed by officials associated with the renovation work that European tiles in a portion of the floor that existed for several years were broken and removed and were replaced with marbles. Soon after coming to power, the BJP govt expressed its desire to restore the iconic building as the nerve centre of Bengal’s administration. However, an initial inspection found large portions of the building in poor condition, requiring extensive restoration before it could function as the state secretariat again.
The minister on Wednesday was shown a presentation regarding the status of the old Writers’ dating several decades back and how the restoration work has progressed.