Darbhanga station to get a royal look similar to Sanskrit university building

Darbhanga railway station’s modernisation and beautification continues with its exterior now being redesigned after the north Bihar city’s famous Lakshmeshwar Vilas Palace, made in 1882 and once the abode of Darbhanga’s Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh. It now houses the administrative office of Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (KSDSU).

“Though the work was supposed to be completed last year, it was delayed due to a shortage of labourers triggered by Covid-19”, station manager Ashok Kumar Singh said, adding that it would finish soon. .

The redevelopment work was launched three years ago during the tenure of the then Samastipur divisional railway manager (DRM) S K Jain, who earned praise for his redevelopment efforts including promotion of Mithila arts on stations.

The Darbhanga junction now boasts of an escalator, lift, improved parking area, wider approach road and landscaping, a senior railway official said. He added that the redesigning of the facade to resemble the royal building-- designed by a French architect on the pattern of Versailles Palace, near Paris—will heighten the station’s beauty by several notches.

Meanwhile, Darbhanga MP Gopal Jee Thakur, who recently reviewed the progress of other railway projects in the district, said the track doubling work between Darbhanga and Samastipur section was nearing completion and another important project aimed to ease the traffic load on Darbhanga junction by constructing a bypass via Kakarghati station at a cost of ₹298 crores, was also going on smoothly.

The MP said that a VIP guest house for senior officials was also being constructed in the city with an estimated fund of ₹1.50 crores, besides the construction of 42 type two quarters for railway staff.

Meanwhile, the Bihar government has prepared the final revised estimate for construction of 10 railway over bridges (RoBs) in Darbhanga. It will be followed by cabinet approval and tendering for the project.

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