Chandannagar’s well-known French museum turns sufferer of neglect

The primary crash occurred in October throughout the Durga Puja holidays when the place was shut and it was a miraculous escape for the artefacts.
| Picture Credit score: Particular Association

The well-known French museum in Chandannagar, situated in what’s popularly generally known as Dupleix Palace, seems to have grow to be a sufferer of neglect with the false ceiling in two of its halls crashing within the latest weeks, a slim escape for guests together with foreigners.

The constructing, formally generally known as Institut de Chandernagor, was the place Joseph Francois Dupleix lived because the governor-general when Chandannagar was a French colony; it’s an essential deal with within the city, the place French is taught and which additionally homes a historic library aside from the museum.

The primary crash occurred in October throughout the Durga Puja holidays when the place was shut and it was a miraculous escape for the artefacts. The second time that the ceiling got here down, this time within the central corridor, was on November 26, when there have been folks.

“It was a crowded afternoon, with many guests, together with an excellent variety of foreigners. Of their presence, a concrete chunk swiftly crashed down from proper onto the desk on which the handover of Chandannagar to India was signed. The foreigners narrowly escaped, however they had been traumatised and so they should have carried again a unsuitable impression of the museum’s upkeep,” Basabi Pal, director of the institute since 2022, instructed The Hindu.

“It was our sheer good luck that the chunk dropped on the furnishings and never on any human being. In any other case, there would have been a extreme accident with different critical penalties to comply with,” Prof. Pal, who has spent nearly her total life in Chandannagar and has childhood recollections of the museum, wrote to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), chargeable for its upkeep, whereas describing the 2 incidents.

The ASI mentioned that conservation work on the constructing was into account. “Our folks have inspected the positioning and we’ve despatched a proposal for approval to Delhi. As soon as we obtain the approval we’ll proceed with conservation,” senior ASI official Rajendra Yadav mentioned.

Prof. Pal mentioned that any delay was extremely harmful and will trigger critical injury, together with lack of lives. “How can I ever convey the ache and frustration by way of which I’m dwelling proper now, spending sleepless nights, wanting on the horrible mess wherein I discover the museum? I really feel helpless, not with the ability to do something to avoid wasting this stunning heritage that’s so near my coronary heart. I’ve actually grown up right here, having witnessed all of the ups and downs of this uncommon establishment, with all its actions as a cultural hub, for over six many years. I at all times really feel that this place is a dwelling soul which is aware of me even higher than most people surrounding me, and it’s this emotional attachment which has introduced me to the helm of its administration. However to what impact?” Prof. Pal, who has been embellished by the French authorities with as Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, requested.

The institute, in accordance with her, is dealing with neglect not simply by the ASI. Even the historic library, run by the West Bengal authorities, has not had a librarian for 12 years now.