Central Railway razes 107-year-old Matunga workshop

The 107-year-old tower of Matunga Carriage and Wagon workshop was pulled down by Central Railway to make way for a swanky new building. While many claimed that the building, which houses its offices, was a heritage building, CR has refuted the allegation.

"The building was not in the city heritage list and the structure had become very unsafe. It was important to raze it for safety. We will try to save any relics, if possible," said Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar. The old, three-storey stone building had thatched roof and wooden pillar ceilings, typical of early 20th Century architecture.

The 107-year-old tower will make way for a swanky new building

In February this year, Central Railway had similarly pulled down the earliest power sub-station building at Kurla, one of the last remaining vestiges of the industrial heritage of the country's first electric railway. The workshop upgrade has now led to the loss of another such old building.

Built in 1915 by the old Great Indian Peninsula Railway company, the workshop was set up on a triangular piece of land skirted by the Central Railway suburban corridors on the east and the Western Railway corridors on the west. It worked as a repair house for broad- and narrow-gauge coaches and wagons.

A place of national importance, the Matunga workshop has been helpful during both the first and second World Wars through manufacturing shells and converting coaches for military movements, supply of food grains and other ancillary supplies.

City heritage experts said that the railways has some of the exceptional heritage buildings in the city which should be preserved. "A wonderful old building which should be preserved will be lost forever. Railways should have more taste for heritage than others. It is a pity," said city historian Deepak Rao.

1915
Year when the building was established