Railways won’t let go off CST Unesco tag

The fate of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) as a World Heritage site status now lies in the hands of Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC). While the Central Railway officials are in damage control mode, the Railway Board is keen to save CST from the danger of being de-listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

Within 24 hours of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) approving the multi-crore high-rise redevelopment plan for Crawford Market, Railway Board officials felt that it is time the stakeholders, including the police commissioner, municipal commissioner and the general manager of CR came together to protect CST’s status.

According to Unesco’s guidelines, no high-rise structure should come up within the prescribed buffer zone of a structure marked as heritage site. As the redevelopment plan of Crawford Market is likely to encroach upon the proposed buffer zone of CST, conservationists and historians expressed their fear that the plan would go against Unesco’s norms.

“We cannot afford the de-listing of CST. It is not only the pride of the Indian Railways, but also of the country,” said Rajesh Agrawal, executive director (Heritage) of the Railway Board (RB).“The one mile stretch from Crawford Market to Fort is a heritage precinct. It is time that an Impact Assessment study is conducted to avoid further damage to this site,” he said.

“To ensure that no new structure comes up within the CST precinct, we plan to demolish even the existing Annexe Building behind the heritage structure. But we have no control over new construction outside the railway premises,” said S Mudgerikar, chief spokesperson of CR.

“We have some respite since Unesco’s guidelines direct that any modification in the precinct of heritage site needs an approval from the MHCC,” he said.