Patna, Jul 13 (PTI) A team of experts from Patna Museum on Wednesday visited the district collectorate here and inspected a rare, over a century-old steam road roller built by a British company, a unique hanging skylight and a vintage safety vault housed in a room of a Dutch-era building in its campus, officials said.

The road roller, manufactured by John Fowler and Co, Leeds, England is currently languishing in an open area in front of the historic District Engineer's Office building situated on the banks of the Ganga river, whose elongated east wing was demolished on July 3 to make way for the new collectorate complex.

Also Read | Tamil Nadu: 13 AD Stone Pillar With Jewish Trade Inscriptions Found in Ramanathapuram District.

"A team from Patna Museum visited the Patna Collectorate campus today. The members of the team inspected the road roller which needs urgent restoration. It is a rare item. After the inspection, a report would be submitted to higher authorities and action would be taken accordingly," said a senior official of the Patna Museum and member of the team.

The four-member team also saw the hanging skylight located in a room of the Dutch-era District Engineer's Office building, a vintage safety vault embedded in another room.

Also Read | Haryana Shocker: 36-Year-Old Tailor Lures Minor With Job Offer, Rapes Her in Faridabad; Arrested.

"We had spoken to the District Board's chairperson about our planned visit in advance. But, unfortunately, no member from the Board were present when we visited the site, and as a result, we could not see the vintage clock we were told about and which is housed in a room that was locked. Even the hanging skylight was in the room that was locked. But, since it has a louvred door, we could peep inside and see it, and it is extremely rare," the official said, adding, "we could see the safety vault only because we could access the room from the demolished portion of the building".

"We did not get co-operation from District Board staff during our visit, as we had expected," he alleged.

District Board's chairperson Kumari Stuti could not be immediately reached for comments.

District Board Patna authorities had recently written to the Bihar government seeking immediate shifting of the rare road roller and other antique artifacts from the Collectorate campus to the Patna Museum, even as a large portion of the Dutch-era building housing these items has been demolished.

On May 13 this year, the Supreme Court had rejected a plea by heritage body INTACH, which was fighting a legal battle since 2019 to save the historic landmark from demolition, paving the way for the demolition of the Patna Collectorate complex.

Demolition had started the very next day, and 1938-built District Board Patna Building was the first to receive the blows of the bulldozers.

The historic structure, located next to the District Engineer's Office Building, and endowed with ornamental pilaster Corinthian columns in its iconic Meeting Hall, was pulled down by May 17, as also the centuries-old Land Requisition Office Building in the sprawling 12-acre complex.

The Dutch-era Record Room Building, which had high ceilings, massive doors and very old and unique skylights on roof, was also razed on May 17.

A very small portion on the frontage has been spared so far, as the Record Room office is still occupying it.

British-era Patna District Magistrate's office building, which was also part of the Collectorate campus, and featured in key scenes in Oscar-winning film "Gandhi" was demolished late June, symbolically bringing an era to an end.

Bulldozers on July 3 had dismantled a large portion of the District Engineer's Office Building as part of a redevelopment project, on a day a group of citizens had gathered in the city near the Collectorate complex to discuss ways to save the threatened Sultan Palace and other heritage buildings from demolition in future.

A rare vintage safety vault built by Chubbs company of the UK was embedded in a wall inside the old Registry Office Building, which was completely demolished recently.

"A group of labourers told us about the safety vaulty that was embedded in a wall in this building, but it has been moved. The fate of the vault is not immediately known," the official said.

A vintage ornamental spiral staircase was mounted on the western facade of the DM Office Building. "We enquired about this to, from people who were present at the site, but nothing could be immediately known," he added.

The road roller along with the old buildings in the campus, were popularised by the 'Save Historic Patna Collectorate', a citizen-led initiative that was fighting to save the Collectorate since the demolition was proposed early 2016, through its heritage walks.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)