UNESCO to ‘rationalise’ buffer zone around Mumbai CST station

The railways ministry has approached the UNESCO to “rationalise” buffer zone around the world heritage site of Mumbai CST station.

Expressing the railways’ keenness on the world-class station, railways minister Dinesh Trivedi said in the Parliament, “A buffer zone around the world heritage site must be rationalised to release space for expansion of activities and facilities for which an application has been submitted to World Heritage Centre of UNESCO, while a proposal for change in land use has also been submitted to the BMC.”

Trivedi was replying to a query raised by local MPs, including NCP’s MPs Supriya Sule and Sanjay Patil, who wanted to know the status of modernisation plan for Mumbai CST.

Mumbai CST was inscribed in the world heritage list for “exhibiting an important interchange of influences from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture, and from Indian traditional buildings” and also for being an outstanding example of late 19th century railway architecture in the British Commonwealth, characterised by Victorian Gothic Revival and traditional Indian features, as well as its advanced structural and technical solutions.

The present immediate buffer zone of Mumbai CST is defined by Walchand Hirachand Marg on South, Dr DN Road on West, P D’Mello Road on east and the boundary wall of St George Hospital on the north. Further, conservationists had proposed additional buffer zone around the structure for comprehensive protection.