Everyone who lands in Bangalore by air will most likely speed down a six-lane expressway to the city, passing by suburban towns where the pace of growth has been frenetic over the past decade. That growth, of course, came with the city바카라s new airport at Devanahalli in 2008. But rewind back a hundred years -- that same trip into Bangalore from Devanahalli via open country would have been on a narrow-gauge railway line that was then brand new. The old station buildings on that line still exist and, last month, the South Western Railway and heritage enthusiasts embarked on a restoration and preservation project to give them a new lease of life.
바카라These are really charming stations,바카라 says Mera Iyer, convenor of the Bangalore chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) which this year signed an agreement with South Western Railway to restore four station buildings on what was once known as the Bangalore Chikballapur Light Railway. The line runs close to Bangalore바카라s popular weekend getaway, Nandi Hills 바카라 in fact, one of the stations being restored used to be the disembarkation point for those travelling to the hilltop, of course in a different era.
Avatihalli Station
While the stations represent a particular period in history, the region itself is home to a rich antiquity that traces back to Bangalore바카라s 16th century founder Kempe Gowda. And even further 바카라 a megalithic site once existed in the region. 바카라So restoring these stations is sort of like an ornament to that historic landscape,바카라 says Iyer. While work on the Dodjala station has begun, the INTACH team plans to start restoration at Avathihalli shortly. The stations at Devanahalli and Nandi Halt will be taken up subsequently.
Devanahalli station
바카라We have CSR funding for the first two stations. We have started on and we are still looking for funding for the other two stations,바카라 she says.
These stations are still in use but very sparingly so, the passenger volume being very low, says Iyer.
Siddharth Raja, an advocate and heritage evangelist who lives close to Nandi Hills, fills in with the story of how the Bangalore Chikballapur Light Railway, with a gauge of 2 feet 6 inches, was started in 1915. It was established as a second line to the main one connecting Bangalore and Madras via Kolar Gold Fields that dated back to 1865, he says.
Nandi station
바카라This line in particular was a feeder line, effectively a second service line between Bangalore and Kolar,바카라 he says. The construction was started by a private firm under a guarantee from the Mysore government, as was usually the case in many rail projects in the princely states back then, he says.
바카라Despite the government guaranteeing an interest of four percent on the capital cost, the private company promoted under the name of 바카라Bangalore-Chikballapur Light Railway Company바카라 could not proceed with the construction work,바카라 goes the 1968 Kolar district gazeteer. 바카라The government then undertook the construction of the line after entering into an agreement with the company. The section from Yelahanka on the Bangalore side to Chikballapur was opened in 1915.바카라 The following year, the 55 mile section to Kolar was completed.
The vintage railway stations in the Old Mysore region have very similar architecture, points out Meera Iyer. 바카라It바카라s a nice blend. There's a gable roof and circular ventilator which are typically colonial but there are also influences of vernacular, for example the little verandah that you see outside is very similar to what you will see in houses in Devanahalli itself,바카라 she says. 바카라The flooring is Kadapa stone, again a very local material. So, it바카라s a nice mix.바카라
바카라Frankly, they have survived this long because of not being in the public eye,바카라
reckons Raja, also co-founder of Nandi Valley Walks. The restoration process, he suggests, should also account for future needs especially in the context of a multi-modal transport system for the local user. 바카라In the old days, you had people taking a bus from their home in Basavanagudi to the city railway station, board a train to Nandi Halt and take a tonga to the top of the hill, enjoy the day and do the same on return because it was all convenient. Now, you don바카라t have intermodal connectivity,바카라 says Raja.
A couple of the stations are in fairly bad shape, says Iyer. 바카라Right now, in phase one, we are only looking at the station buildings themselves.바카라 According to a railways press release in February, the second stage will involve creating additional amenities at the stations and their surroundings 바카라 a rail museum, silk museum and cultural centre are some of the ideas on the cards.
