Boarders to find heritage feel intact as they step into Hindu Hostel today

KOLKATA: On Wednesday, when boarders step into the 132-year-old Eden Hindu Hostel they will find the heritage structure intact, though some minor alterations were made. The new furniture has replaced the old Burma teak ones which were reminiscent of an era gone by.

The thick iconic wooden partitions inside every sprawling room used to create a separate unit for multiple students are also gone.

Architect and heritage conservationist Partha Ranjan Das, who was assigned to supervise the restoration of the iconic hostel, said no major alterations were made to the heritage structure.


“Most restoration works cannot retain the original structure as many changes are necessary to make it suitable for contemporary use. Such as structural strengthening, fire safety, reduction of construction load etc. But the heritage aspect of the structure is intact. We demolished structures constructed later which were incompatible with the architecture,” said Das.

Currently, wards 1 and 2, which can accommodate over 100 students, have been handed over.

Some washrooms were added later which were not in sync with the structure. “The corridors were ending with the washrooms which were not compatible with the overall heritage feel of the place. We have moved those down,” said Das.

Hindu Hostel was shut for repairs in July 2015 and boarders were transferred to a temporary accommodation in Rajarhat. Initially, the university authorities had set a deadline of one year, but they missed that deadline and subsequent deadlines forcing the students to move to the administrative building of the university.

When the impasse continued the higher education department interfered by setting November 15 as the deadline.

The scope of services keeps increasing in restoration projects as new defects surface during restoration, said Das.

“Currently, we have provided fire extinguishers but if the fire department wants water sprinklers and fire alarms installed in every room then a round of alteration may be required,” said Das.

To make provisions for routers to enable the students to use Wi-Fi on their laptops, minor alterations may be needed.

“The initial condition survey is a huge task involving time and money. Normally, most clients don’t have the time for occupied buildings. However, the condition of Hindu hostel was studied with reasonable detail,” said Das.

“We tried to prioritise according to the money sanctioned and the time constraint. The building is yet to be made barrier-free due to several constraints,” said Das.