The railways’ decision to renovate the Darjeeling railway station with new designs, when Unesco had earlier flagged concerns of deteriorating architectural elements of the century-old Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), has drawn flak from some quarters.

The DHR, which started operations in 1881, was granted world heritage tag by Unesco in 1999.

On Monday, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista inaugurated the renovated Darjeeling railway station in the presence of Anshul Gupta, Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) general manager.

The renovated Darjeeling station has a false ceiling, which many likened to a modern hotel lobby, windows with stained glass, and a tiled clock tower.

The old turntable where coaches and engines could be turned for maintenance is filled with concrete that has destroyed that space.

NF railways have also been using the space on DHR coaches for advertisements, which many believe does not add to a heritage ambience. A shed over the maintenance pit has been criticised for lacking in aesthetics and failing to complement the overall DHR construction style.

Paul Atkins, a former technical consultant to Unesco, termed the changes “inappropriate”.

“The constructions inside the world heritage area are totally inappropriate, for example, the clock tower. The station building itself has been redecorated in styles totally inappropriate for a structure of that design and age,” said Atkins.

The covered turntable with a new shed over the maintenance pit at Darjeeling railway station

Stained glass windows at Darjeeling railway station

The new clock tower at Darjeeling railway station

Loss of heritage character could lead to delisting from the world heritage status.

A senior NFR official, however, justified the renovation, saying had been done “without destroying the basic heritage framework of the asset”.

The official also added that the heritage wing of the Indian Railways “had been kept in the loop” regarding the renovation work.

There was, however, no satisfying reply on why the turntable, an old component of DHR, was filled with concrete.

Another DHR official said that the turntable was lying defunct for the past few years.

“A few years back when it was used, a coach nearly fell off the turntable,” the official said.

However, Atkins said most “physical heritage features” of the railways were slowly getting destroyed. The railway official denied the charge.