Two years after tragedy, a new dawn for Udvada station
Spot where a local lost both legs wears new look, as revamp work sparked by mid-day’s coverage is completed.
Even as Aspi Sepoy, 46, who lost his legs to a railway accident at Udvada, has got on with his new life, the station has a spanking new face after renovation was completed. mid-day’s reports on the reasons for Sepoy’s accident got the revamp rolling. The town’s railway station has been in the spotlight ever since Sepoy, a resident of Ava Baug in Navsari, lost both his legs in an accident at the station on September 15, 2017.
Aspi Sepoy, the caretaker of Zoroastrian Information Centre at Udvada
He told mid-day on Friday, “I am doing very well and am once again independent. For a year now my new assignment has been caretaker of Zoroastrian Information Centre at Udvada.” Sepoy now zips around on his modified three-wheeler that was given to him from funds collected after his accident.
“An indomitable spirit, he travels from Udvada to Navsari and back all alone on his three-wheeler,” said Dinshaw Tamboly, chairman of the World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust (WZOT), who helped garner funds.
The waiting halls are air-conditioned a comfortable with separate ones for men and women
Western Railway chief spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar said the 123-year-old station has been upgraded to a ‘Pilgrimage Destination Station’ at a cost of R3.2 crore in addition to the complete rebuilding. Built in 1895, the station has retained its original glory and the entire project was being monitored by a reputable architect Prashant Chokhawala from Valsad.
“The daily footfall is approximately 2,500. It now has a new AC waiting hall, VIP Room and ladies and gents waiting halls with all basic facilities. Platform number one has been extended to accommodate 24-coach trains for easy entraining and detraining in addition to building a boundary wall along platform 1 and along circulating area for security purposes,” he said.
The station also has a new reservation-cum-booking office, new toilet blocks for men and women and the differently-abled in addition to renovation of old seating arrangements and water booths. The concourse hall has been done up with murals on one wall and cornice flowers on the ceiling,” he added. He said work was carried out keeping in mind Railway ministry’s directives to develop stations with facilities suitable for pilgrimage destinations.
Aspi Sepoy
Holy city for Parsis
Located around 182 km from Mumbai, the small town of Udvada is one of the holiest cities for Parsis and is a global pilgrimage centre. It is one of the oldest and most important spiritual centres for Zoroastrians in the world. At the Iranshah, the holy fire that was consecrated in 1742 when the Zoroastrians came to India to escape religious persecution in Persia is still burning.
