A four-member team from the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway will fly to
the UK next week to learn about conservation measures for the
137-year-old heritage network.
Sources said the decision followed
prods from Unesco — which granted the DHR World Heritage status in 1999 —
after service disruptions and destruction of its properties, including
two stations, during the statehood agitation last year.
“This is
the first-of-its-kind trip for employees of any heritage railway in
India. It is a five-day programme where they will learn about
conservation and maintenance of the old railways of the UK so that the
steps can be replicated at the DHR,” said Subrata Nath, director
(heritage) on the Railway Board.
The team will be led by DHR chief
M.K. Narzary. “Those going on the trip will have to work in the DHR for
at least two years and will not be transferred as we need their
experience for the DHR’s conservation,” said a source.
Adrian
Shooter, president of the UK-based DHR Society, said the team would
visit his home in Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire. Paul Whittle,
vice-chairman of the society, said: “We will meet them and extend all
help,” Whittle said in an emailed response.
After the agitation
last year, Unesco had written to the railways underscoring the need to
conserve the DHR. In March this year, Railway Board chairman Ashwani
Lohani visited the hills and hinted at steps to conserve the service
that started in 1881.
The Telegraph
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