Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – A world heritage site 16/07/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags:

DARJEELING HIMALAYAN RAILWAY

 

For: Preliminary

Topics covered: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, UNESCO, World Heritage Sites

 

News Flash

Darjeeling toy train’s heritage tag under threat.

  • India’s continuing failure to conserve the 140-year-old Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a World Heritage Site.
  • UNESCO to take steps to assess the state of the railway system and see whether the property is worth the global heritage tag.

 

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR)

  • DHR or the toy train that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling.
  • It is an 88km long railway line that was built between 1879 and 1881.
  • On 5 December 1999, UNESCO declared the DHR a World Heritage Site.
  • All the steam locomotives currently in use on the railway are B-Class, built by Sharp, Stewart and Company.

 

DHR received World Heritage status for the following:

  1. An outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on the social & economic development of a multi-cultural region.
  2. The development of railways in the 19th century had a profound influence on social and economic developments in many parts of the world.

 

UNESCO

  • UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
  • It seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
  • This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.

 

Source: Indian Express

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