THE FALL of the Redlands Building, Shillong’s Manipur Rajbari on the 8th of October 2025, is more than the loss of a monument. It is the collapse of decades of bureaucratic negligence, for over seven decades, the Manipur Rajbari stood in limbo, neither fully protected nor entirely forgotten. After Manipur’s merger with India, the property fell geographically under Meghalaya’s jurisdiction. Meghalaya was not legally responsible for the upkeep, while Manipur lacked the authority to intervene. The result? a slow, silent deterioration, sanctioned by paperwork and indifference.
August 12, 2021, the Rajbari was formally handed over to Manipur. The handover was hailed as a gesture of pride and reclamation with the then chief minister N Biren Singh announcing plans for a Manipur Bhavan. Yet, as years passed, it became clear that symbolic ownership did not translate into actual preservation.
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A Detailed Project Report (DPR) was prepared by Executive Engineer-I Ngangom Dilip Meitei from the Planning and Development Authority at the request of the Department of Art & Culture, Government of Manipur, and submitted to the North Eastern Council (NEC), Government of India. Manipur’s Tourism Policy 2022 emphasizes the conservation of historically important monuments in collaboration with the Department of Art and Culture.
The NEC examined the proposal in detail and approved it in July 2023 allotting a budget of a little over 5 crores for reconstruction work. The project was split into two parts with both contracts going to MS Meitei Construction Pvt Ltd, with the PDA engineers and officers supervising the construction of a guest house which began in April 2024 and the reconstruction/restoration of the Exhibition Hall & Heritage building.
During their visit in August 2024, the Patriotic Writers’ Forum was informed by officials at the Manipur Bhavan that the restoration and construction work was expected to be completed within two years, providing a rough timeline for the heritage project.
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By then however, the Rajbari had deteriorated significantly, with decayed wooden posts, rafters and water damage. When the Redlands Building was finally demolished, the justification from the agencies involved came very swiftly; it was unsafe, decayed, beyond repair. But decay is not an accident—it is the outcome of prolonged neglect. India’s Constitution, under Article 49, makes the preservation of historic sites a duty of the State. If the government knew since 2021 that the Rajbari was fragile, why weren’t standard preservation measures such as scaffolding, weatherproofing and fencing put in place?
The Redlands Building was the site where Maharaja Bodhachandra Singh was placed under house arrest and coerced into signing the Manipur Merger Agreement in 1949 such a site holds not only historical but a cultural and sentinel value to the people of Manipur. A proper structural and historical audit is essential before any demolition of such a heritage site. For the Manipur Rajbari, such an audit would have ensured that any intervention, whether restoration, partial dismantling, or reconstruction preserved the historical and cultural essence, while providing transparency and accountability to the public.
What sets this incident apart, however, is the response it has ignited. Silence did not follow. Student bodies, civil society organizations, and citizens across Manipur have spoken out, not merely in mourning, but in outrage. The outpouring of anger signals something deeper, a collective refusal to let neglect go unquestioned.
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Perhaps this moment can be a breakthrough, a reckoning against the administrative culture that normalizes decay and excuses accountability. Because heritage, ultimately, is not just about the past; it is about what we choose to preserve of ourselves. The demolition of the Rajbari is an irreversible loss. Yet, if it serves as a wake-up call for institutions to uphold their responsibility, and reminds the government that heritage requires active preservation rather than symbolic recognition, then perhaps this tragedy can spur meaningful change. For heritage should not need to fall apart before it is remembered.
The author is an independent writer from Manipur focusing on development, society and change.
(The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ukhrul Times. Ukhrul Times values and encourages diverse perspectives)