Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav congratulated Shaina NC and her team and the Central Railway for their efforts in restoration of Byculla station to its original architectural glory and winning the coveted UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award of Merit for Cultural Heritage Restoration and Conservation.
The 169-year-old Byculla railway station is one of the oldest stations of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the forerunner of the Central Railway.
The restoration was completed in April 2022 and the award was announced in November.
In July, 2019 a huge project to restore the ancient heritage architecture of Byculla Railway station, one of India’s oldest stations began.
— Central Railway (@Central_Railway) July 25, 2023
This project had been initiated in coordination with Railways by Shaina NC Trustee, I Love Mumbai, in loving memory of her father and former Sheriff of Mumbai and Founder of I Love Mumbai and Giants International, late Nana Chudasama with the support of Bajaj Trust Groups, and Abha Narain Lambah Associates, as their CSR initiative. Minal Bajaj and Niraj Bajaj of Bajaj Group and Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation funded this huge restoration project of over Rs.4 crore. Heritage conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah graciously consented to do the project pro-bono as their CSR initiative in honour of the city of Mumbai.
“The award is a matter of pride,” said Shaina NC after her meeting with the Railway Minister on Monday.
The task of the entire planning and execution was completed and Byculla railway station was restored to its original, ancient, heritage architecture with excellence on 29 April, 2022 at the hands of Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Dadarao Patil Danve.