With reference to the disturbing news report, “Government to take over Shakuntala, only private railway line” (October 23), we Indians do not know nor care about the significance heritage institutions hold for our national history. The century-old Shakuntala Railway should not fall prey to incorrect priorities such as preventing financial losses, increasing volume of trade and speed of moving goods and passengers.
If we retained this railway line, even at a cost of a few crores of rupees to the exchequer, what damage would it do to the economic progress of our country? The engineering skills of yesteryear will be a delight to witness for our young generation. It is all right to rip off the metre and narrow gauge railway lines and replace them with broad gauge lines in some routes. But I am sure that if we maintained a few of the classic railway lines such as the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and Matheran Railway Lines, posterity will admire the foresight of their predecessors.
I earnestly request the Narendra Modi government to not remove the tracks of Shakuntala Railway but preserve them as national assets, and hope that this plea will not fall on deaf ears.
Nirupam Haldar Kolkata
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