The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been awarded the best swachh iconic place in India, as adjudged by Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The award will be received by Ministry of Railways jointly along with BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and CSR partner SBI Foundation at a ceremony to be held on September 6, during Swachh Mahatsav at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
CSMT competed for the award with 30 other places as selected in all three phases.
The juries were from the Guardian Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, JAL Shakti. Swachh Iconic Places is in collaborative with three other central ministries: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Culture, and Ministry of Tourism and UNESCO, according to a press statement issues by the Central Railway.
"Conservation and Restoration of 'Swachh Iconic Site CSMT' are one of the #focus areas of #SBIFoundation...," the SBI Foundation tweeted.
An engineering marvel, the Victoria Terminus, now known as CSMT, is one of the marvelous creations of Frederick William Stevens, a famous British architectural engineer who has designed several other buildings in this city.
Stevens designed it in the style of Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture.
Its construction began in 1878, in a location south of the old Bori Bunder railway station, and was completed in 1887, the year marking 50 years of Queen Victoria's rule, the building being named, Victoria Terminus.
The station's name was changed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (station code CST) in March 1996 to honour Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the 17th-century founder of the Maratha Empire, whose name is often preceded by Chhatrapati, a royal title.
In 2017, the station was again renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (code CSTM), where Maharaj is also a royal title. However, both the former initials "VT" and the current, "CST" and "CSMT", are commonly used.
