The iconic Collectorate complex may soon be vacated, as a number of administrative offices are set to relocate to new premises in the state capital. The plans, however, have drawn criticism from residents in the old city and Bhopal parliamentarian Alok Sharma.
Opposing the plans, Sharma has said that the government should strive for a balance among legislative constituencies while planning the development of the city.
Sharma's lament is echoed by residents in the old city, who complain of stepmotherly treatment at the hands of city planners, who have drafted several crucial offices out of the city's historic old quarter over the last two decades.
The Regional Transport Office (RTO), the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), and the District Court have moved out of the old city, which forms a part of the Bhopal (North) assembly constituency.
Residents say that the shunting out of the offices has resulted in economic distress for small businesses around the now-defunct office blocks. Many of the shop owners were forced to pull down the shutters and look for alternate avenues to keep the home fires burning.
Small business owners, who run a mix of shops selling snacks and providing photocopy and word processing services opposite the collector's office, fear that they too would meet the same fate once the district administration shifts to its new offices.
Deepak Markam, a fruit vendor near the collectorate complex, says that most of his customers are officials and employees. He fears that the shifting will greatly impact his business.
Perhaps in denial, Advocate Ilyas Khan says that the intervention by the member of parliament will result in a rollback of the shifting proposal. He believes moving the office to New Bhopal will cause significant trouble for people.
Kishore Mohanani, the owner of a photocopy shop, said that the shift of the office will result in the closure of his outlet, the primary source of income for his family.
Rajanarayan Rahgire points out that the shifting of BMC and RTO to New Bhopal resulted in a loss of identity for the old city. He believes that if all important offices move there, the old city will lose its character entirely.
The sprawling administrative block, which currently houses the office of the divisional commissioner, revenue courts, and the district police chief's office, apart from the collector's office, has been a prominent city landmark that dates back to the era of Bhopal's last female ruler, Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum.
"Back in the day, the complex housed revenue courts, judicial offices and the police headquarters," says city historian Sikandar Malik.
"Originally built in the Indo-Saracenic style, employing locally available materials and some indigenous design elements, the buildings were later accorded a facelift by noted Austrian architect Karl Malte von Heinz, who embellished them with Art Deco balconies and lofty corridors," he adds.
Even if the heritage administrative building looks dusty and in desperate need of repairs and a fresh coat of whitewash, the absence of the bustle at the Tehsil and district offices will leave behind an eerie silence on the busy Sultania Road, where these offices have stood for over a century now.
