Alipurduar, July 16 -- After remaining abandoned for nearly 17 years, the Alipurduar Sangskriti Vikas Kendra is finally set to be revived, raising hopes among the district's cultural fraternity. Construction of the unfinished project is expected to resume shortly, with the North Bengal Development department already preparing a revised Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Announcing the development on Thursday on the occasion of Rath Yatra, Alipurduar MLA Paritosh Das said the long-stalled project would soon return to the construction phase. "The North Bengal Development department has started preparing the DPR, and the matter has been discussed with the minister concerned. If everything proceeds as planned, the construction is expected to be completed within the next year," he said.
The Sangskriti Vikas Kendra was conceived nearly two decades ago during the Left Front regime under the initiative of then Alipurduar MLA Nirmal Das.
The project, estimated to cost around Rs 2.5 crore, was envisioned to strengthen the town's cultural infrastructure. However, work came to a standstill in 2010 after nearly half of the construction had been completed.
Despite a change in government in 2011 and repeated appeals from theatre groups, cultural organisations, artists and eminent citizens, the project remained in limbo for the next 15 years. The revival gained momentum after MLA Paritosh Das recently inspected the site along with former MLA Nirmal Das, following which steps were initiated to restart construction.
According to the revised DPR, the building will be transformed into a modern cultural complex featuring a 200-seat auditorium, an art gallery, a cultural museum, dedicated spaces for art and cultural activities, and multiple halls for organising cultural programmes.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.