RailEnquiry

Mussoorie:
The dilapidated Northern Railway out agency building on Mall Road that is used for ticket reservation tells a tale of neglect.The historic building belonging to the Northern Railway is used as a reservation centre not only by residents but also tourists visiting Mussoorie.However, it is in a poor condition due to negligence on the part of the authorities concerned and lack of maintenance. It has not been renovated for several decades.The roof of the building has worn out at several places and could cave in any time, endangering the lives of the people. During the monsoon the reservation hall turns into a swimming pool, making it difficult for the people to book tickets. OP Uniyal, president of the Mussoorie Municipal Council, agreed that the building was in a shambles and nothing had been done despite several reminders to the railway authorities.Uniyal said he too had been on the receiving end during the monsoon when the whole hall of the building got flooded.

The supervisor of the building, OPS Rawat, said the senior railway officials had been apprised of the situation but no action had been taken yet.

The SDM, Mussoorie, NS Dangi, said his office had received no complaint and hence he could not take any action. The residents believe that if the building is not renovated soon it could collapse any time and prove fatal. They said the Railways, which has a separate budget for such things, did not have time to repair its own building.

The railway out agency was built to cater to the British population in the 19th century when a plan to bring a railway line from Shenshai Ashram to Mussoorie was proposed.

The British had visualised a rail link in Mussoorie way back in 1896 and still the remains of broken tracks and old railway tunnels were visible near Rajpur.

According to historians, Dehradun-Mussoorie Electric Tramway Company was set up in 1921 with a share capital of Rs 36 lakh for undertaking railway construction, but the project was shelved due to political unrest and alleged misappropriation of funds by company officials. The Railways has not considered any new rail line to Mussoorie since then.