As a step towards converting the Doddajala Railway Station in Bengaluru into a heritage railway station, the foundation stone for the restoration of the station was laid on Monday, July 12. This is part of a larger project that intends to restore many more heritage railway stations, including Devanahalli, Avathihalli and Nandi Halt, on one of the region’s oldest railway lines, which has been operational since 1915. The restoration project intends to preserve station buildings on this line that were built in the colonial architectural style.
South Western Railway (SWR) plans to restore and preserve the heritage railway stations based on different themes related to history and heritage. A press release from SWR stated, “An art-cum-cultural-cum-convention centre will be developed at Doddajala. Interpretation centre for monuments and history, café or snack counter will be set up at Devanahalli. A silk museum and resource centre along with a park, with appropriate tree planting and landscaping will be made at Avathihalli. A rail museum, café, restaurant, cultural performance centre, pop-up weekend crafts markets, interpretation centre, open air theatre and amphitheatre will be provided at Nandi Halt Station.”
The Doddajala station restoration project began on February 25 after the Bengaluru division of SWR signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH), a non-profit organisation that works towards preservation of heritage sites in the country. The project will be taken up in two stages, according to the press release.
“In the first stage, INTACH will undertake the renovation, restoration and preservation of the station buildings in consultation with Railways and identify the partners under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for funding the initiative,” the press release said. It further stated, “In the second stage, ways and means of sustainable maintenance of preserved and restored buildings will be developed by creating additional amenities at the stations and surroundings.”
The press release also stated that this is the first initiative from SWR where a restoration project is being taken up under CSR.