Restoration of Kolkata Cathedral to begin soon

Media reported last week that deep cracks have appeared on the South East wall of the 167-year-old church.

Kolkata:  A team of government officials and experts have begun discussions on a project to restore Kolkata's historical St Paul's Cathedral and protect it from further damage.

The Mondays discussions decided that the foundation of the church will be repaired as soon as possible since it is believed to be the primary reason for subsidence, Times of India reported.

A team of restoration experts will soon start working on St Paul's Cathedral to protect the heritage structure from further damage. Restorers, along with structural engineers, on Monday evening held a discussion with church officials to decide the future course of action.

TOI had reported last week that deep cracks have appeared on the South East wall of the 167-year-old church.

The church had approached the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for help.

While experts from Intach will conduct the mammoth restoration job, KMC engineers will oversee the progress. The KMC's heritage committee is already searching for the original drawings of the foundation.

The cathedral is built on an arched foundation to have a vault-like structure, which was created to bury the then bishop, Daniel Wilson. Monday's inspection confirmed that the coffin still lies there.

The engineers who attended the meeting stressed on the digitization of a voluminous diary where every minute details of the church and its renovation have been recorded.

Source: Times of India