PATNA/NEW DELHI: Amid a controversy linked with the planned five-star hotel project at the premises of the 104-year-old Sultan Palace in Patna, Bihar Tourism Minister Kedar Prasad Gupta has said that wherever there are "such heritage structures" in the state, they will be beautified.
He made the remarks on Friday, while interacting with mediapersons at his office in Patna shortly after taking charge as the state's new tourism minister following the expansion of the Bihar Cabinet led by Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary.
Gupta was asked about the fate of the historic Sultan Palace, also an iconic architectural landmark of Patna, after recent reports emerging in a section of local media have conjectured that the famed building might have to "face the wrecking ball" to make way for a proposed five-star hotel.
These reports have triggered outrage among several historians, scholars, conservation architects and other heritage lovers and civil society institutions working on heritage preservation, who have demanded from the Bihar government that this "jewel of Patna" be protected and made part of the heritage hotel project, as was originally envisioned, and made public in 2017.
On September 10, 2024, the Bihar Cabinet had approved a proposal to build a five-star heritage hotel under a PPP model at the site of the iconic Sultan Palace in the heart of Patna, while preserving its over a century-old historic structure, reversing its earlier decision of 2022 to demolish it for the project.
Citing that many heritage buildings in the country have been developed or are being developed as tourism sites so that visitors can appreciate the cultural legacy, the minister was asked what will happen to the old building of Sultan Palace, given some reports have again raised the spectre of its 'demolition'.
Wherever in Bihar there are "such old hotels (buildings) or heritage structures, we will beautify them all," Gupta said in the presence of the state tourism secretary and other senior officials of the tourism department.
However, he did not elaborate on his comments.
This is the first official reaction from the Bihar tourism ministry since a report published in a leading Hindi daily in Patna on April 16, in connection with the Sultan Palace project, raised eyebrows.
The report, published days before World Heritage Day (April 18), claimed that a "commitee" headed by the secretary of the art and culture department of the state government, had "found" that the Sultan Palace -- built in 1922 by legendary barrister Sir Sultan Ahmed as his residence -- is "not listed as a heritage building".
The report had also conjectured that the palace might have to "face the wrecking ball" to make way for the five-star hotel project. Until the state Cabinet expansion, the Bihar government or its tourism department have neither issued any clarification or statement on the status of the project nor denied the report.
A senior official of the Bihar tourism department, which now owns the landmark building and is the lead agency of the project, when asked about the report in April, however, had only said, "We have not yet received the report of the panel, which was set up five-six months ago to look into its conservation and other aspects of the building."
However, the content of the panel's 'report' or the composition of the panel and the purpose of setting it up, have not been made available in the public domain yet.
Many heritage lovers have demanded that the committee's composition, its mandate and its 'report' on the Sultan Palace should be "made public".
The tourism minister's remarks on Friday, albeit brief, have allayed apprehensions to some degree in the minds of concerned citizens on the fate of the historic palace.
Gupta also told reporters that there are "many possibilities" in the tourism sector in Bihar, and it will be "my priority to project Bihar to the rest of India and the world at large".
"The remarks made by the new Bihar tourism minister is welcoming and raises hope for preservation of heritage in culturally rich Patna and the rest of Bihar, especially when Patna has lost so many heritage buildings in the last few decades, including the 19th century Dak Bungalow (in 1990), the Bankipore Central Jail (in 2010) and the iconic Dutch-era Patna Collectorate (in 2022)," Patna native and heritage activist Md Umar Ashraf said.
Ashraf is also part of a citizen-led group of Patna which is endeavouring to ensure safeguarding of Sultan Palace and other "unprotected and unlisted heritage buildings in Bihar".
Some members of this group had held an emergency meeting in Patna on April 18, coinciding with World Heritage Day, to discuss the way forward to safeguard the "famed Sultan of Patna".
Following the concerns expressed by the citizenry, the Bihar Chapter of the Delhi-based Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) recently sent a letter on behalf of them to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the plight of "unprotected heritage buildings" in Patna and other districts of Bihar, and urged him to ensure safeguarding of the Sultan Palace.
Citing 'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi' as one of the core mantras of the Modi government, a large number of citizens of Patna have suggested that the five-star hotel project should include the old Sultan Palace as a heritage wing with the addition of new structures complementing the old architectural fabric of the iconic landmark.
Chorus has also grown from citizens for listing and protection of unprotected heritage buildings in Patna and the rest of Bihar, with many experts saying that any historic structure not finding a place on any official list, "does not take away its heritage value", and listing anyway is a "long, bureaucratic process".
A 2008 publication by the art and culture department of the Bihar government -- "Patna: A Monumental History" -- lists a range of historic buildings in the book, including Sultan Palace.
Sultan Palace by virtue of its age, over 100 years, and architectural grandeur is a "veritable heritage", and rightfully finds its place in "Patna: A Monumental History", said Rajiv Soni, a Patna native based in Kolkata, who has also authored a book on the heritage of Patna.
However, in the past few years, many of these heritage structures mentioned in the 2008 seminal publication, including the centuries-old Patna Collectorate, British-era iconic Gole Market, 1885-built Anjuman Islamia Hall have been demolished and replaced by new, modern complexes by the state government, despite facing resistance from heritage lovers.
The concerned citizens have demanded that not only Sultan Palace, but many other remaining "historic but unprotected and unlisted heritage structures" in Patna and the rest of Bihar should be documented, and efforts be made to preserve them for posterity, perhaps using a public-private-partnership model.