Kolkata, May 9 -- Sitting across a vintage wooden table with a glass top in a spacious office on the second floor of the Writers' Buildings, a state public works department (PWD) officer reminisced about the years he spent in one of the city's most iconic landmarks and former seat of power. "I am on the verge of retirement and have worked in many offices. But Writers' Buildings is something different. It has a different charm altogether," the officer said, asking not to be named.

The 246-year-old red iconic structure at the heart of the city went dormant 13 years ago when the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-government led by Mamata Banerjee shifted the secretariat to a 14-storey building in Howrah, across the River Hooghly.

"The Writers' Build...