Portico of Chandernagore station razed, triggers protests and allegations
Telegraph | 24 February 2025
The portico of Chandernagore station, among the first four railway stations in eastern India dating back to 1854, is being pulled down, triggering protests and allegations that a piece of heritage is lost forever.
Residents of Chandernagore noticed on Saturday that half of the portico had been pulled down.
Eastern Railway said the structure was “dilapidated” and had to be demolished.
“We will rebuild the facade of the building as it was before demolition without making any changes,” said the railway official.
The first train that ran in eastern India was between Howrah and Hooghly. The four stations, except Howrah, on this route were Bally, Serampore, Chandernagore and Hooghly.
The book Rail Travel from Zero Mile, published by Eastern Railway, has touched upon the first train in eastern India.
“The saga of Railways in Eastern India began on August 15, 1854, when East Indian Railway (EIR)’s first train ran from Howrah to Hooghly, a distance of 24 miles. Regular services were introduced from that day, with stops at Bally, Serampore and Chandannagore,” the book says.
“In the year 1925, the government of India, under the British Raj, took over the management of EIR, and thus organised it into divisions,” it says.
Architect Abin Chaudhuri said safety is of utmost priority in a railway station where hundreds assemble every day.
“The moot point is whether the structure was beyond the scope of repair. If so, it needed to be pulled down. If not, there are ways to repair an old structure without demolishing it,” he said.
It is not immediately clear if the portico had been standing since 1854 but residents said many elderly people remember seeing it since their childhood.
“I asked some people I know who were born in the 1930s. They told me they have been seeing the portico since their childhood,” said Souroshankha Maji, a Chandernagore resident and a member of the Rail Enthusiasts’ Society that promotes railway travel and conservation of railway heritage.
Maji said the columns of the portico had been defiled when they were repaired in the last decade. Tiles and mosaic pieces were installed on the columns making them incongruous with the rest of the facade.
Sanjoy Mookerjee, a former financial commissioner of the railways and a member of the Rail Enthusiasts’ Society, said the railways have a rich heritage and should be more sensitive in conserving it.
“Was a study done to see whether repairs were possible without pulling down the portico? If it was dilapidated, why was it not cordoned off earlier?” he asked.
Chandernagore, about 30km from Calcutta, has a chequered history. A French colony, it was taken over by the British and returned to the French as relations between the two European powers worsened and improved.
When India became independent in August 1947, Chandernagore remained with the French. It was in June 1949 that the residents of the town voted in a referendum to join India.
An official of the Howrah division of Eastern Railway said on Saturday that Chandernagore was one of the 15 stations in the Howrah division that will be developed under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
“In this phase, we are only rebuilding the dilapidated structure. In the next phase, we will add passenger amenities like a foot overbridge. Similar development work under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme will be undertaken at Bally, Katwa, Dankuni, Burdwan, Seoraphuli and Tarakeswar, among others,” said the official.