SAMBALPUR: THE Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has prepared the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for renovation and conservation of the houses of doyen of Assamese literature, Lakhminath Bezbaroa, at Nelson Mandela Chowk here.
Bezbaroa had constructed the houses in 1924 while he was working with a timber company in Sambalpur. During his stay for two decades, Bezbaroa had penned several literary works. While he was living in one house, he was using another house as his office.Member of INTACH, Sambalpur Chapter, Deepak Panda said both the houses of the eminent Assamese litterateur will be renovated completely. The estimated cost for renovation of both the buildings is `3.24 crore. The INTACH has already submitted the DPR to the State Government.
Earlier, the State Government had sanctioned `50 lakh for the renovation and conservation of the two houses. The Tourism and Culture department has assured to provide requisite fund for renovation work in a phased manner, Panda said.The renovation work will begin shortly with the initial funding of `50 lakh. Since Bezbaroa’s office building is in a dilapidated condition, the renovation of the office building will be carried out first, he added.
As per reports, the houses of Bezbaroa are on 2.72 acres of land, which had been acquired to pave the way for construction of approach road and rotary junction at Nelson Mandela Chowk.After the decision of the State Government to demolish the houses of Bezbaroa came to light, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal took up the matter with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Assam’s Cultural Affairs Minister Naba Kumar Doley and Media Adviser to Chief Minister, Assam, Hrishikesh Goswami visited Bezbaroa’s houses here on October 30 last year to assess the situation. Subsequently, they met Naveen Patnaik and the latter announced renovation and conservation of the houses. The PWD authorities, thus, had to redesign the rotary junction without affecting both the buildings.