GUWAHATI, Feb 3 - PWD Minister Parimal Suklabaidya today told the Assembly that the department would move the State Government for financial assistance for renovating and preserving the British-day inspection bungalows.
�The problem is that we cannot use road funds for the purpose. The PWD (Building) does not get any fund for itself and gets paid by other departments for doing their construction works. We will move the Finance Department for some funds so that we can renovate and preserve the IBs,� he said.
Suklabaidya, who was replying to a question by Mamun Imdadul Haque Choudhury of the AIUDF, said that the PWD has a total of 146 bungalows of which 71 are in a dilapidated state.
Congress legislator Abdul Khalek said that the government should consider converting the Raha IB into a heritage bungalow in view of its antiquity. In addition, he added, the bungalows of Baghbar and Manikpur should also be preserved as heritage bungalows.
Kamal Sing Narzary of BPF also called for preserving the Bijni and Manikpur IBs as heritage structures.
Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami said that the proposal has merits and that some of the IBs could also be used as museums showcasing local culture and heritage.