Asansol: Unfinished biography of a Raj era railway town: Explorations in heritage practice in post industrial India

From the construction of India’s first coalmine in 1832 the district of Asansol, West Bengal has been the product and the agent of industrial processes. At the same time, Asansol is home to other heritages that betray complex negotiations between Modernity and the Orient, as they produced one another in the colonial era. Far from tourist trail or metropolis, this complex built fabric is at risk: Asansol lacks a formalised cultural heritage infrastructure; and consequentially its the buildings decaying, and undervalued as they might be, form its only accessible public history. This chapter interrogates the work of the Asansol Heritage Research Group. They believe that the architectural heritage of Asansol, may hold the key to the revival of the fortunes of the town. This project will use their preferred methodology of storytelling to engage with the historic architecture of Asansol, uncovering and narrating its complex histories, asking critical questions of contemporary heritage practices, and exploring the possible roles its built heritage may play in helping its citizens to build a sustainable future.