It was in early 2011 that the powers-that-be at WR decided that the WR's Churchgate building should have a smart glass and metal rendition of how a railway yard would look.
Over a 1,000 railway employees working inside the 'glass building' at Western Railway's Churchgate headquarters are gearing up to spend a sixth summer bearing the heat, literally, of a short-sighted railway decision.
It was in early 2011 that the powers-that-be at WR decided that the WR's Churchgate building should have a smart glass and metal rendition of how a railway yard would look. The plan to give Churchgate a makeover costing Rs 10 crores was hatched in the middle of 2010. With several top officials at WR, like then general manager RN Verma and then chief administrative officer SK Jain in favour of the glass facade, protests from employees was forgotten.
"Look what a mess the authorities have made. A building which has such long corridors with huge windows to take in the sea breeze coming in from the west was such a pleasure to work in. Now it is like an oven and all promises of rectification have fallen on deaf ears," said an employee who did not wish to be named.
Plans that were made in 2012 to centrally air-condition the building fell by the wayside as the railway board frowned on the cost — a sizeable Rs 14 crores. With a floor plate 50 metres long and 30 metres wide, officials said 'retrofitting' a centralised air-conditioning was never an easy task. With the AC plan having failed, the authorities have since then experimented with removing a few glass panels to ensure cross-ventilation but have not been able to satisfy the employees who still call the building a glass-lined furnace.
"In a way the Churchgate glass building is typical of how the railways is working these days. The way work is being done is like always but a new spin is being given. Here too instead of creating something of value at a new construction, they go ahead and put glass around a 60 year old building and call it a modern makeover," said an irate employee.
A text message sent to chief public relations officer Ravinder Bhakar about whether WR was planning to remove all the glass panels and get the building to its original shape was not answered.
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