Indian architect Hafeez Contractor wants to design 19 Indian railway stations for free

Monday, February 26, 2018

Noted Indian architect Hafeez Contractor has offered to design 19 Indian railway stations for free including several in Mumbai as a part of redevelopment project being rolled out by the Railways.

Sanjeev Kumar Lohia, Managing Director and Chief Executive officer of the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC), the nodal agency for redeveloping 600 railway stations, said Hafeez Contractor was among four who had offered to plan and design railway stations free of cost.

Hafeez Contractor has offered to redesign are Dadar, Parel, Wadala, Bandra and Khar in West Indian city Mumbai. Lohia said that they had an open invitation for professionals to work pro-bono for developing concepts and master plans for redevelopment of stations. Hafeez Contractor has shown an interest in 19 stations.

He said that the corporation had received such offers from another noted architect and two firms. However, we have not finalised any of the designs yet. It is at a preliminary stage.

Hafeez Contractor, who recently had discussions with Railway Minister Piyush Goyal told that the pro-bono offer was his way of “helping my country”. He said the country suffers when a “lousy job” is done.

The Indian Railway Board had recently also approved  the plans for giving out railway land on lease for 99 years, allowing construction of residential complexes, and also handing over revenue and operations of platform tickets stations to the developers who undertake the railway stations for the re-development and revamping.

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