Nafees Rahman

Legend has it that a local feudal lord named Narasingha founded a settlement on the banks of the Brahmaputra River during the early 15th Century, and named it Narasinghapur. Over the centuries, as the river changed its course and as population grew manifolds, this tiny settlement turned into a large township. The proximity of three other rivers, the Meghna, the Arial Khan and the Shitalakhya turned this place into a commercial hub. Good communication supported a gradual prosperous growth in agriculture, industries, education, sports & culture. Over time this place became known as Narsingdi. It was only in 1910 that a police outpost was set up here, which became a full-fledged police station in 1930. In 1977 Narsingdi was declared as a sub-division, and became an independent district only in 1984.

Our trip took us to the Paikar Char Union on the banks of the Mighty Meghna. A few centuries back, a busy river port grew up in a small village here named Balapur. According to local legend, about two hundred years ago, a Zamindar named Nobin Chandra Saha built a palatial house here, on a plot measuring over a hundred acres. Steamers coming from Calcutta regularly docked at the Balapur port. The Zamindar used to oversee loading and unloading of his goods, sitting on a horseback.

This three-floored house had 103 rooms, lined with mosaic and decorated tiles. The doors and windows had intricate wood carvings. The verandah railings & arches were decorated with wrought iron frames, fitted with colored glass pieces. While most of those are now missing, many of them are still there to remind a visitor of the finesse of this house during its glorious past. The grills still show the image of Krishna & Radha engraved at the centre.

A large pond was dug to the west of the house, and a temple was built to the north. A separate guest house with 31 rooms was also built on the premises.

Nabin Chandra had three sons _ Kali Mohan Saha, Ashutosh Saha and Manoranjon Saha. Kali Mohan Saha (more popularly known as Kali Babu) took over the reins of the landlord-ship after his father’s death. The descendants of the brothers in different generations included Anil Chandra Saha, Ajit Chandra Saha, Asit Chandra Saha, Biren Chandra Saha and Debashish Chandra Saha.

During the partition of the Sub-continent in 1947, before resettling in India, the descendants of the Zamindar donated the entire lot to a person named Modon Mohan Bigraha. The principal aim of this transfer was to look after the temple. However, this family could not enjoy the property for long. During the Liberation War of 1971, the entire family migrated to India, to escape from torture by the Pakistan Army.

The property remained vacant for some time. But gradually, poor homeless Hindu families of the locality began taking shelter in the palatial house. Though this gradually became a pretty large settlement, there was a constant threat of being evicted by either the local administration, or the local influential people. As such, the settlers not only refrained from spending any money on repair or maintenance of these once fascinating structures, they dismantled the decorated tiles and intricately carved woodwork, to sell them off in the underground market and fetch a handsome income. As expected, over the decades, the palatial house has fallen into ruins.

Large cracks are evident throughout the building. The ceilings have caved in and walls are crumbling in a few rooms. With the supporting walls falling off, the roof is still precariously resting on the cantilevered steel frames! A makeshift toilet possibly was built on the first floor sometime later… but that too has lost its walls and one can look up the gaping hole from the ground floor!

Yet about twenty families are cheating death almost on a daily basis, especially during the monsoons, as they have nowhere else to go. On the upper floors, the floor vibrates as a person walks a few steps. The district administration has put up a cautionary sign, declaring this building as a threatened structure, yet defying that notice, the families live on.