GUWAHATI, June 10 � The Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has proposed to rebuild the historic Nabin Bordoloi Hall and Library with a two-storeyed modern structure, preserving the heritage of the building, said GMDA chairman Dhiren Barua here today.
Barua told this correspondent that an amount of Rs 2 crore has been allocated by the GMDA for the 2015-16 fiscal and the development agency has decided to allocate an equal amount of money for the purpose if the situation so demands.
The construction of the building will be completed within the next two years and within the next six months, the construction of its ground floor is planned to be completed. A local architect will be engaged through a competitive bidding process for preparing the design of the building, Barua said.
In reply to a question as to why the new building is not built on the vacant plot of land between the boundary wall of the Handique Girls� College and the Nabin Bordoloi Hall, he informed that on that particular vacant plot of land, a statue of renowned freedom fighter Md Tayebullah would be installed.
Barua reasoned that on that particular vacant plot of land, there was a thatched house and Md Tayebullah was born in it. Therefore, his family is insisting that the statue of the freedom fighter should be installed on that particular plot of land.
The GMDA is also installing the statues of Ambikagiri Roy Choudhury, Parliamentarian Hem Baruah, Mahendra Mohan Choudhury and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in the city. Sculptor Biren Singha will mould four statues, excluding that of Ambikagiri Roy Choudhury, which will be sculpted by Dilip Sarma. Biren Singha will hand over the statues to the GMDA by August, Barua said.
According to noted writer Kumudeswar Hazarika, the Nabin Bordoloi Hall was earlier known as the Curzon Hall and Library. It was initially located at the site where the present SK Bhuyan Library of Cotton College is located. It was built in 1900 and shifted to its present location some time between 1907 and 1910.
The Curzon Hall and Library was built as per the proposal of late Manik Chandra Barooah, who was the president of the committee formed to receive Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India, during his visit to Guwahati to study the post-1897 earthquake scenario. Lord Curzon was accorded a warm welcome by the people of the State at a function held at the Judges� Field in the early part of 1900.
The Curzon Hall and Library was built with the money saved by the reception committee, Hazarika said.
