Central Railway is planning to restore the Nagpur Railway Station to its pristine glory. The plan is to ensure that the heritage value of the stone building remains intact. The Central Railways, on Thursday, got a green signal from Heritage Conservation Committee of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to undertake conservation measure. The idea is to ensure that station building would get back its original look, as it was during the British era. The railway station building is Grade-II heritage structure.

 

During ongoing modernisation process of Nagpur Railway Station, two additional buildings are going to come-up on each flank on the western side of the existing structure. That would take care of the need for space to house offices for the staff at the railway station. Hence, Central Railway had drafted a plan to remove the offices and other temporary

structures inside the building. Once the offices are shifted, the stone structure would be visible and since it has undergone certain defacement due to negligence over the years, permission from Committee was mandatory.

 

The Heritage Conservation Committee, at its meeting held on Thursday at NMC Headquarters in Civil Lines, noted the plan submitted by Central Railway and stamped its approval, said Pramod Gawande, Deputy Director, Town Planning, NMC. Gawande said railway had outlined their plans to house a museum wherein material used at start of railways in the country would be displayed. Along side photographs of those times, signal equipments and amphitheatre to stream a documentary is also planned by railway officials. At present, Railways have nearly disfigured the beauty of the sandstone structure of the station building in its need for offices. Much of the structure has disappeared behind the offices and restaurants and that would be restored once new buildings are constructed. The two new buildings and fly-overs would compliment the present structure, said Gawande further while talking to The Hitavada.