Heritage railway stations neglected, vandalised but authorities look away
Published: Saturday, Dec 11, 2010, 3:01 IST dna
The city’s heritage railway stations are being vandalised and abused, but their keepers continue to turn a blind eye to the state they are in.
The city has five listed railway heritage structures: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Western Railway (WR) headquarters building opposite Churchgate station, and Byculla, Reay Road and Bandra stations. While CST is a Unesco-listed World Heritage Site, the WR headquarters building has also managed to enter its tentative list. The other three are unique for their architecture and importance in the city’s railway history.
CST is an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, blended with themes deriving from Indian traditional architecture. The site is today surrounded by hawkers with no protection in the form of any buffer zone. Some of them have even hammered nails into this iconic building to put up their wares for display.
Railway officials say that the building is used by lakhs of commuters daily and monitoring such huge crowds is difficult. CR has taken up conservation and restoration of the monument worth Rs16 crore in two phases. “We conduct regular drives against hawkers and beggars,” CR spokesperson Ashok Singh said.
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Tasneem Mehta, eminent conservationist and chairperson of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), said that one of Unesco’s mandatory requirements is the establishment of a monitoring committee with city leaders and experts. The railways have failed to constitute such a committee.
The WR headquarters building is less abused since it has restricted public access. But conservationists blame WR for applying paint on the building and damaging the station’s original look. “Paint does not allow stone to breathe and sets in damage,” a conservation architect said.
Restoration of Bandra’s old heritage structure has just been completed. All artificial partitions and walls have been reinstated in accordance with how the British had built them. But commuters today have spoilt them again with paan stains and spit marks. They have gone unpunished because of a lack of monitoring.
“Some of the smaller stations in the suburbs, too, are beautiful and have heritage value. In fact, when the heritage list is updated, they should include these,” city historian Sharada Dwivedi said.
The worst condition is that of Reay Road. Once a terminus on the harbour line, the grade-I heritage structure is a sign of utter neglect. Dwellers in and around the station have damaged the structure. The elevated station has a clock embedded in its facade, which now houses the booking office.
The letters GIPR, elaborated as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the country’s first rail line, can still be seen on either side of the station.
Refuting allegations of neglect, Singh said, “The station is maintained regularly. CR will take all efforts to restore its original look. We will explore what best can be done for it.” Officials said they are working with the BMC to evict dwellers and they have elaborate plans to restore the station. Byculla station is another such station on the heritage list which requires some restoration.
