Mumbai: The year 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the Bandra railway station. The station, which was constructed in 1738, is the oldest operational station in Maharashtra and one of the oldest in the country.
The station, which is a blend of Victorian gothic and vernacular style architecture earned its place on the UNESCO’s list of heritage buildings.
The United Nation (UN) administered body have also worked as the consultant for the renovation of the station’s damaged and missing structures, designing the surrounding premises to restore the image of Bandra as the “Queen of suburbs”.
To mark the anniversary, department of Posts, along with the Western Suburban Railway unveiled a special postal cover with the picture of Bandra railway station on it.
This is for the first time that a picture of any railway station will be imprinted on the cover. Soon, postal stamps will be available with pictures of the Bandra station as well.
Minister of sports and youth welfare, Ashish Shelar, unveiled the model of the cover, along with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Shelar is also the MLA of the Bandra (West), who recently initiated the development of the yoga park at Bandra reclamation, which will be powered on solar energy, informed the making of a watch tower is in process, which will be a major crowd-puller and will boost the tourism industry.
Shah Rukh’s presence created a pandemonium on the Bandra station premises during the wee hours. The afternoon crowd, which generally comprises passengers coming back from office, crowded on the platform to catch a glimpse of the Bollywood’s own King Khan.
Though the tactful crowd management of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was successful in bypassing any disaster.
“This is a really great initiative of the postal and railway authorities. I am sure with the implementation of such innovative ideas, the postal industry will not lose its vintage charm,” said Shah Rukh.
Mentioning that this was the first time he stepped into the Bandra railway station. “I have done on-screen romance on railway stations with many co-stars,, but being here for the first time surpassed those memories,” he mentioned. BJP MP Poonam Mahajan was also supposed to attend the event, but she gave it a miss.
