Letter does it: Restoration of arch on Matheran rly route begins

He said,“I am happy that CR has realised its mistake and started restoration work on the arch.” According to CR sources,on March 23,a decorative arch on two pillars at a distance of 10 feet was broken by CR to make the loop line for running the shuttle service.

The arch had been constructed to mark the golden jubilee of Matheran Railway in 1957 when SK Patil,the then union irrigation minister,inaugurated the gate of Aman lodge as a tribute to Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy.

Each pillar has a plate,which says in both English and marathi: “In memory of Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy,founder of Matheran Railway and pioneer in the development of Matheran.”

Ali Akbar Peerbhoy said,“It was a heritage structure and should not have been demolished. If railway can not preserve it,they should at least not destroy it. Four months back,CR staff removed the photograph of Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy from Matheran Railway station to place a board of the booking office. After I complained to the GM about this,they allowed me to put the photograph back. I did it without any help from any of the railway staff. I even brought the ladder from my house.”

Meanwhile,the project of running shuttle services between Aman lodge and Matheran station,promised a year back by the then Minister of State for Railways,R Velu,to fulfill a long pending demand of residents of Matheran,is yet to be approved. Suneet Sharma,Additional Divisional  Manager,Mumbai division,Central Railway,said,“The proposal for this project is yet to be approved by the headquarters but now this will not be done on a PPP model. CR will undertake it on its own.”