Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) shed awaits repair

Darjeeling, May 9: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway might have been declared a World Heritage by Unesco, but the Indian Railways has not been able to repair a loco shed almost one year after it was damaged in a landslide.

Delay in the repair of the loco shed at the Darjeeling station has hampered the functioning of the DHR to some extent as only two engines, instead of four, can be housed there for maintenance.

The shed had been covered with debris following a landslide on July 17 last year. The DHR authorities say the repair was delayed on account of the high amount quoted in bids.

“We had called for a tender in December but it had to be cancelled as the lowest bid for the work was twice the amount we had estimated,” DHR director Subrata Nath said.

The railway authorities’ estimate was that the total cost of the repair would come around to Rs 30 lakh. However, when the tender was invited, the lowest bid the DHR had received was that of Rs 58 lakh.

The DHR official said the process of inviting tender afresh has started — four months after the first one was rejected. He added that the new tender would be invited within 15 or 20 days.

Even if the lowest bid still remained the same, Nath said, the DHR would have to probably award the contract at twice the amount they had estimated.

The delay in repairing the shed has, however, not surprised the tour operators in the town. Pradip Lama, the secretary, Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents, said the DHR was good only at talking about profit and loss.

“Can one imagine that there is not even a proper signboard to show where the famed DHR station is located in town,” said Lama.

The Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Centre, set up by the DHR, has also not been functioning for the past couple of years. The centre was set up to provide people in the DHR area access to Internet at subsidised rates.