Despite rlys' efforts, scene at stations far from clean

Mumbai: While railway administration has taken several steps to improve cleanliness at railway stations in Mumbai, the cleanliness list prepared by the ministry shows that efforts are far below actual requirements.

Commuters pointed out that while the administration has initiated cosmetic changes such as painting of walls and toilets, it has failed to stop littering at stations.

A major complaint is that there are not enough dustbins on platforms, so commuters who do not want to litter have to walk the entire length of the platform only to find overflowing or no dustbins.

Deepti Khera (26), a social worker who lives in Everard Nagar, Sion, said that she had asked the station master on several occasions to ensure that dustbins were empty or that damaged ones were replaced but in vain. “There has been no actual change or effort made at the ground level. You hear these stories about how a station master made sure his station was spic-and-span but that doesn’t happen in Mumbai,” she said.

The stretch between Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) and Vadala stations is one of the most unclean ones. While railway officials tried to clean the same during the first Swacch Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2015, a few residents have demanded that a special cleanliness drive be undertaken for this patch. A GTB resident, Annapurni Hariharan, said, “The patch between GTB and Vadala as well as King’s Circle is one of the dirtiest on the Mumbai railway line. When they painted the station and beautified it, we also asked that they help us clean up the track.”

Railway activist Lata Argade said, “Changes like painting a dirt wall in Mumbai or putting up art are no changes. It has to go beyond to the actual sanitisation of stations so that there will be no health hazard and stations will have a feel-good atmosphere.”