Railways to spend Rs 15.5 cr on renovation work

Mumbai, Nov 3: The first phase of renovation and repair works on the historical Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) here, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, is being undertaken at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore.

Central Railways (CR) General Manager V K Kaul told reporters that the CR was awaiting response on its tenders for the second phase of restoration and renovation work. The Rs 11 crore Phase II project contained restoration of the facial structure of the monument to its former glory.

He said the repair and restoration work is expected to be completed by December 2007 or March 2008.

Mr Kaul said that seven new ticket booking counters will be opened on the suburban and main stations. The existing booking counters in these stations are in a bad state.

Earlier, Mr Kaul released the book 'A City Icon', a comprehensive story on the historical monument of CST, co-authored by Sharda Diwedhi and Rahul Mehrotra. Ms Diwedhi is an eminent author and researcher, while Mr Mehrotra is a renowned architect and heritage conservator.

Ms Diwedhi said the new book is a wonderful piece of comprehensive literature on the historical monument. A lot of research was put into the book to give it a holistic approach.

UNI