A house, with a portico jutting out, became a benchmark to gauge its owner's social station. In fact, a 'portico-laden' house had evolved to be a hallmark of authority stamped on it.

Whither thee gone?
The portico, once a dominant and recurrent leitmotif of Kolkata's architecture, has now almost disappeared from the cityscape, except perhaps for the handful of the rundown colonial buildings in the Dalhousie area. The Currency Building and the Great Eastern Hotel stand out as fine examples. For the landlord the porticos ostensibly displayed his the social status, but for the passers-by the giant overhead balconies offered shade from the scorching sun and the rains.

Safety versus heritage
Over the years, reasons for pulling down the porticos have been plenty but the consequence was — the demise of this architectectural facade.
To begin with, the architecture itself had undergone a major change in the city when space became a premium.
Gradually, porticos were pulled down to check the massive wastage of space to create compact residential spaces. Perhaps the concept of porticos was buried with the framing of the new Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) regulations in the 1990s. The new rules did not allow the civic body to sanction any building plan, which incorporated an extended canopy or "offset".
The authorities say the main objection had come from the fire department, which had pointed out, that the “offsets” are a major hurdle in case of firefighting.
But what saw the collapse, quite literally, of the portico was the great "safety versus heritage" debate. The trademark porticos that defined the architectural grandiose were in a bad shape.
Slabs of concrete hung loose from the overhead canopied threatening the safety of the passers-by. The collapse of the porticos of the Society Cinema was the last nail in the coffin. The (KMC) realised that the lease period of the building had also expired and decided to pull down the structure.
The KMC authorities state that Section 411 of the KMC Act empowers the civic body to demolish any structure, which is an imminent danger to the safety of people. It does not spare old buildings either.
But when it comes to heritage buildings, the civic body is has to be cautious. “There is a social value attached to these buildings and we have to preserve it at any cost. But at the same time, we cannot compromise safety to people. We have to essentially do a balancing act in such situations. In case a heritage building has a private owner, the KMC has to talk it out with the owner regarding the repair and renovation as per the heritage building rules," said Dipankar Sinha, Director General (Town Planning).
A section of the authorities believe that because of the acute crisis of road space in the city, sidewalks should be narrowed down. This means that the giant porticos obstructing the sidewalks should go.
But Sinha said that there is no reason to despair. "The arcade of the Oberoi Grand enhances the beauty of the stretch. There is no reason why one should hammer down all porticos," he said.