Pulled down to make way for new : PDA

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 11 : In the backdrop of the strong voices of condemnation and disagreement raised by different sections of people over the demolition of the historic Rajbari building at Shillong, the Planning and Development Authority (PDA), Manipur has clarified that demolition of the Rajbari building was necessary for ‘reconstruction/restoration ’ of the same building.
A press release issued by the Executive Engineer-I, PDA said that the Rajbari building was more than 80 years old but no timely or major repair was done.
As a result, the Rajbari building had deteriorated and was in a dilapidated state.
In this regard, a detailed project report (DPR) namely “Infrastructure Development of Heritage Complex, Shillong" was prepared as requested by the Art & Culture Department, Government of Manipur.
The DPR was approved by the North Eastern Council (NEC) in July 2023. A budget of a little over Rs 5 crore was okayed for the reconstruction work in 2023.
One of the main components of the project is reconstruction/restoration of the Rajbari building which was very old and dilapidated.
The moth eaten wooden posts, rafters and purlins and leakage of rain worsened the structures.
As a first step, dismantling of a dilapidated part of the building was taken up. However, there was an apprehension that the remaining part of the building may collapse due to instability and weakness of the structural elements.
Hence dismantling of the whole structure was necessitated and done manually with due care, the EE-I said.
The dismantled structures like wooden doors, windows and wall plates etc are properly kept and stacked for future use, if possible. The PDA said that the original architectural design of the building including dimensions of the rooms and height shall be maintained during reconstruction. This reconstruction/restoration has been taken up for a longer life span of the building and there is no intention to erase the historical building, the PDA added.