Porch of Old High Court heritage building caves in
| Date :12-Apr-2020 |
Debris of the collapsed porch of Old High Court building. (Pic by Anil Futane)
By Shirish Borkar ;
THE lackadaisical attitude of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Nagpur Circle authorities resulted in the collapse of one of the three porches of Old High Court Building, the city’s first National Heritage Monument, in the small hours of Saturday. The ancient architectural marvel had three porches. One of the porches in the west facing the old Secretariat building is the main entrance to the building. The second porch is in the North. The 16 ft x 16 ft rear porch facing the old National Fire Service College, which was in a dilapidated condition, caved in.
The conservation work of the 129-year-old heritage structure had started after it was declared as the first centrally protected monument in Nagpur on March 28, 2018 by Union Ministry of Culture. The Ministry had taken almost two decades to declare it as a National Heritage Monument which now figures in the list of more than 3650 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance across the country. Due to bureaucratic delay, its notification had come only after the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on March 26, 2018 ordered demolition of unused old canteen block within the premises of the historic building within 48 hours for creating additional space for parking vehicles of lawyers and litigants visiting Nyay Mandir and Suyog Building.
The notification declaring the Old High Court Building as the centrally protected monument was issued by Usha Sharma, Director General, ASI in exercise of the power conferred on her under Sub-Section 3 of Section 4 of Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. Subsequently, the Government had also sanctioned funds for the conservation work. Even after the financial estimates for the project were approved by authorities, the conservation work was hampered due to administrative apathy of ASI Nagpur Circle. Constructed in 1891-93 in Nagpur, then capital of Central Provinces & Berar to house Judicial Commissioner’s Office, the building is situated on 18,228 sq mt land. The government decided to house the High Court in the building after Judicial Commissioner’s Office came to an end in 1936. In 1940, the High Court moved to its new stone building and this monument came to be known as Old High Court building.
The two-storeyed structure built of bricks, stones, teak and Burmese wood representing Anglo-Indian or colonial architecture has thick brick walls with an arcade, verandah, arched wooden doors and Doric columns. When contacted, K R K Reddy, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, Nagpur Circle, told ‘The Hitavada’ that the southern porch of monument had detached from the main structure and it caved in. “We will reconstruct it on scientific lines to bring back the monument to its past glory,” he added. Reddy said that tenders were floated for the conservation project and even material required to execute the work was procured. “Conservation work will resume after the lockdown is lifted,” he added.