City rly station’s poor show in sanitation

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 19

With the city railway station getting a dismal rank of 176 in the country in cleanliness, residents are unhappy with the functioning of the railway authorities here.

Jaswinder Singh, head of a religious organisation, said, it was disheartening to learn that the railway station of the city figured so badly in the cleanliness. Thousands of tourists arrive here through train services. Its deplorable state sends a wrong message, he says. 

The platforms of the Amritsar Railway Station are neglected as garbage can be seen scattered hither and thither. Of the six platforms (1, 1-A, 2, 3, 4, 5), only the first one has toilets. The passengers on the other platforms can be seen urinating in the open.

The toilet at the entrance point of the railway station needs an immediate repair and cleaning. The garbage collection system is tardy as few garbage bins have been installed here. Besides, visitors too resort to throwing the waste on the platforms, making cleaning a tedious job.

Even as the railway station was proposed to be developed into a world-class facility in the 2009 railway budget, but its infrastructure is far from satisfaction. Not only city residents, but also visitors to the city feel that there is a need for the railways to chalk out a comprehensive plan for its development.

When contacted, senior officials at the railway station, who didn’t wished to be named, said the cleanliness level was presently low in view of ongoing development projects at the station. Hence, construction material has been scattered at various parts of the station. The daily footfall here is at about 60,000 passengers. Cleanliness has been outsourced to a private firm.