Karnataka   

Mangalore Railway Station is 100, but there are no plans of any celebration

MANGALORE/CHENNAI: November 2007 marks the beginning of the centenary year for Mangalore Railway Station, but nobody seems to know the date of its inception.

“It was inaugurated some time in November around a century ago,” is all a senior railway official from the Palaghat Divisional headquarters could say. Organisations, that are demanding that the Railways should chalk-out a concrete plan for the centenary celebrations, too are in the dark about the important dates and landmark events in the nearly 100 years that have gone by. A member of the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who went on a fast in front of the railway station here on Wednesday, said, “We are demanding that the Railways announce a definite plan for the centenary celebrations. As citizens, we want to know more about the history and heritage of our city’s railway station and as part of the centenary celebrations, we want the Railways to make this information public.”

The foundation stone on a quaint little guard house at the northern-end of the railway bridge across the Netravathi states: “The last rivet was put in position and the bridge formally declared completed by H.E. Sir Arthur Lawley. KCMG, GCIE, Governor of Madras on the 4th November 1907.”

Ivan Saldanha, a city-based historiographer writes: “Through the ages, generations of our Canarite ancestors have moved to newer pastures the world over vide different modes of transport – by foot, carriage, vessels and since 1907 by rail. This was heralded by the much-loved ‘Nethravathi Rail Bridge’, also known as Ullal Sanko.” There is no information on the railway station, though its history is inextricably connected with the bridge.

With less than a week for November, there are still no official plans for the centenary year celebrations. Officials in the Mangalore Railway Station are not aware of any plans to celebrate the centenary year. “We have not received any communication from the divisional office in Palaghat,” they said.

The official concerned in Palaghat too is clueless. An official in Chennai said: “It is up to the authorities in Palaghat to bring the issue to our notice. We have not got any information regarding this.”

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