Heritage Wing of Railway Board objects to ‘redevelopment’ of Ooty, Coonoor stations

Heritage wing urges Southern Railway to halt renovation of Udhagamandalam and Coonoor stations to preserve historic value.

Buttressing concerns raised by heritage enthusiasts that the renovation of the Udhagamandalam and Coonoor railway stations is detrimental to the historic and heritage value of the buildings, the heritage wing of the Railway Board has urged the Salem Division of Southern Railway to halt the “redevelopment” of both stations.

In a letter to Southern Railway, the heritage wing said the heritage directorate was not consulted before work started at both stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

“The new structures being constructed, as part of development, and the modification of the existing heritage structures will disturb the original heritage buildings. Any deviation from the heritage aspect shall be viewed adversely by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee,” the letter said.

Top officials of the heritage wing of the Railway Board, who conducted an inspection, said the work jeopardized the heritage value of not only the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) but also that of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) and the Kalka-Shimla Railway (KSR). They reasoned that the NMR is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the Mountain Railways of India. “This may also jeopardize inscription [sic] of Railway heritage sites as the World Heritage Sites, which are in the tentative list of UNESCO,” the letter said, quoting the officials.

The letter recommended that Southern Railway halt the work at the two stations and “revisit the plans and restore” the heritage buildings to their “original glory”.

K. Natrajan, a heritage train enthusiast and founder of Heritage Steam Chariot Trust, said it was shocking that the Railways had failed to consider the heritage value of the two stations before starting the redevelopment. He said the unplanned construction of a training school at Udhagamandalam, which was discontinued a few years ago, had led to public funds going waste.

He added that the century-old structures had been damaged while multiple projects were implemented. He added that the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme was unnecessary for the Udhagamandalam and Coonoor stations. He instead proposed introducing new trains on the NMR line, opening additional refreshment stalls along the route, fixing the broken sewage system in front of the Udhagamandalam station, and removal of weeds and wild plants on the station premises.