155 sites & items to be declared as heritage assets

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 13 July 2021 | DARJEELING: In a bid to preserve the rich history of Cooch Behar, the heritage city, the state government has decided to declare 155 sites and items of the town as heritage assets. 

Recently, the Heritage Committee held a meeting in Cooch Behar. 

"A heritage gate will be constructed at the entry point of the city," stated Pavan Kadiyan, District Magistrate, Cooch Behar. 

A heritage logo has already been designed to be put up in all heritage signage of the city. This city is the only planned city in North Bengal. It was the capital of the erstwhile princely state of Cooch Behar. The Cooch Behar Palace and Madan Mohan temple are some of the heritage spots of the city. 

The Cooch Behar palace or Rajbari is modeled on the lines of Buckingham Palace, London. "The Palace along with the Madan Mohan palace has been declared as heritage sites," added the District Magistrate, Cooch Behar. 

Cooch Behar also boasts of beautiful water bodies (Dighis.) Beautification work is on at Sagar Dighi, Bairagi Dighi. However, many of the proposed heritage sites are in ruins and there are encroachments in others. 

The Heritage Committee has decided to serve notices to the encroachers. They will be removed and boards declaring these sites as heritage along with a brief history will be put up at these sites. The sites in ruins would also be restored seeking help of experts, stated the District Magistrate. 

The meeting was attended by former ministers Rabindranath Ghosh and Binaykrishna Barma. 

(http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/cooch-behar-155-sites-items-to-be-declared-as-heritage-assets-446384?infinitescroll=1)