Heritage on track: CR flags off year-long work to restore CSMT
The work on restoring the building has started. However, no major changes will be undertaken in the building owing to its heritage value. The completion of the work will take one year. SENIOR CR OFFICIAL
MUMBAI: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus(csmt), a heritage building certified by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) , will soon be in a better shape with the Central Railway (CR) starting restoration work of the structure.
Architectural work on the ground floor of the heritage building has begun with the entrance of the station on the south side, near Bori Bunder. Currently, restoration of windows, glass panes and doors is on.
The doors, which are made of Burma teak wood, will be placed inside near the CSMT museum. The wooden staircases in the building will also be replaced and the damaged structures inside the building will be changed.
“The work on restoring the building has started. However, no major changes will be undertaken in the building owing to its heritage value. The completion of the work will take one year,” said a senior CR official. The work comes after CR had asked the Railways to grant a fund of ₹41 crore to restore the heritage building.
The Union budget of 2018 had allocated funds for the restoration work.
The CSMT heritage building, which also houses the headquarters of CR also operates on green energy. CR purchases sixmegawatt power from a wind energy unit in Sangli, Western Maharashtra and adds it to its grid.
CR also recently constructed a heritage lane at the P’D Mello Road entrance of CSMT, on the occasion of the World Heritage Day.
The structures on display include Great Indian Peninsula electric loco manufactured in 1925, Albion printing press installed in Byculla in 1899, and lifting and hauling steam crane manufactured in 1929.