Mumbai: CR initiates inquiry into CSMT bldg damage, trade union cries conspiracy

The damaged pillar

The Central Railway yesterday initiated an inquiry into the damage to the UNESCO-listed Mumbai CSMT building and called in experts and artisans from Jaipur to fix the pillar, even as the trade union in question said this was a conspiracy to thwart its movement against the museum.

The building, one of the 36 World Heritage Sites in India, was found damaged on Thursday by unknown offenders and is now a matter of investigation. "We have initiated an inquiry, and we are going to fix the broken part immediately. Artisans from Jaipur who specialise in this art will be coming here soon for the work," CR's chief public relations officer Sunil Udasi said.

Also read - Mumbai: Fight for museum at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus hurting railway station, literally

Meanwhile, Praveen Bajpai, general secretary of the Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh, said the allegation was a plot to derail their movement against the museum and that the theory of loudspeakers and banners damaging the pillar was rubbish. "It is a conspiracy. The first point is that the loudspeakers were tied to the other pillar; also, banners and flags hardly have any weight to cause such grave damage. There is something more to this than meets the eye," he added.

There were a lot of reactions to the damage with Diana Robertson, great granddaughter of Fredrick William Stevens who designed the iconic building, saying, "This is so so sad, hate to see this", while Kunal Tripathi, who runs the popular @mumbaiheritage Twitter account, called it "sheer negligence".

2004
Year the CSMT building made it to UNESCOs list

36
Number of World Heritage Sites in India

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