Preservation Of Colonial Urban Heritage In Guwahati Through Cultural Resource Management

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of the application of Cultural Resource Management in the management of heritage resources in the urban context. Taking the example of Guwahati, a city located in the North Eastern state of Assam in India and which is a growing metropolis, the paper attempts to apply Cultural Resource Management (CRM) as a means of preservation for protecting the heritage resources which have already faced the axe of the developers within the urban scenario. Taking note of the kinds of threat to the archaeological sites the policy of CRM follows the features of Historical Urban Landscape (HUL) adopted by UNESCO in 2011 and has applied it for the preservation of a colonial monument in Guwahati. The monument in question is the Nursing College and
Hostel of the Satribari Christian Hospital which was established in 1926. CRM is widely practised in the USA and this can become a movement in Assam too for preservation of cultural resources. The methodology applied to study the process of management of
heritage resources in Guwahati and which can also be applied in the case of the Nursing College are to build a (1) Case study (2) establish credibility of the monument (3) Record the inventory of the monument (4) Drawing the Ground Plan to scale (5) Description of the building (6) Making Free hand drawing of the immovable monuments (7) Taking photographs of the movable and immovable properties (8) Recording the History (9) Describing the architectural features of the monuments (10) Applying the legislative
policies of the country and the state (11  Using a financial tool, for the management of a building. To conclude, the CRM policy enables the age old buildings a breathing environment within the urban space and aims at educating the community and passing the monuments and sites to the next generation.