Omkareshwar railway station building leveled, new station being built two km away
The building of Omkareshwar Road Railway Station is being razed to the ground.
HighLights
Omkareshwar has been an important railway station because of the Jyotirlinga. The construction of Omkareshwar Railway Station was completed in 1874. The second railway station of broad gauge line is also being built here.
Naiduniya Representative, Khandwa(Omkareshwar Railway Station). Omkareshwar Road railway station was built in the year 1872 on Khandwa-Indore railway section. Devotees coming to visit Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga used to get down here and reach the pilgrimage city by road. Due to conversion of meter gauge track to broad gauge, train operation on this track has come to a standstill for almost four years.
The British-era Omkareshwar Road Moratakka Railway Station building has lost its existence. The strength of the station building is unmatched. Machines are being used to break it. The iron, wood and other materials used in its construction are safe even after hundreds of years. The British had constructed a meter gauge line from Hyderabad to Ajmer to connect Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Central India’s largest meter gauge railway line, about two thousand kilometers long, used to connect South and North India. This railway station was built keeping in mind the convenience of the railway passengers coming through this railway route. It has been an important railway station because of Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga. The construction of the railway station was started in 1872 and was completed in a period of just two years in 1874.
The station building was a replica of Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga temple.
In the year 1995, Union Minister of State for Railways, Suresh Kalmadi, in the Narasimha Rao government, came from Indore to Omkareshwar Road railway station by special train. After reaching Omkareshwar from here and returning to the station after having darshan of Lord Jyotirlinga, he gave instructions to the then DRM of Ratlam Railway Division to upgrade Omkareshwar Road Railway. During this time, the upper part of the station building was given the shape of Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga temple.
Childhood memories are associated with the station building.
Ajay Kumar Mishra, 75, a social worker from Moratka, told that his father Badrivishal Mishra used to say that the station building was constructed during the British rule when the meter gauge line was laid. I too have been visiting this railway station for 70 years. There used to be three-four trains coming here every morning and evening. Used to play here with friends in childhood.
Childhood memories were associated with this station. There is sadness in the demolition of this station building but there is also happiness that the construction of a new well-equipped railway station for broad gauge trains two kilometers away is almost 70 percent complete. It will be ready by March 2025. With the laying of broad gauge track, Omkareshwar Road station will be directly connected to major stations of the country. This will provide convenience to those coming to visit Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga.
