Cleanliness has ‘arrived’ at Lucknow railway stations
Rajesh Kumar, a vendor in his late fifties who works at the city’s busiest railway station at Charbagh, is a very happy man. His happiness has much to do with PM Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. For it was only after the initiative kicked off that the old garbage dump near platform number 6 of the station was cleaned up.
Rajesh Kumar, a vendor in his late fifties who works at the city’s busiest railway station at Charbagh, is a very happy man. His happiness has much to do with PM Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. For it was only after the initiative kicked off that the old garbage dump near platform number 6 of the station was cleaned up.
“Cleaning of the garbage dump has pushed the sales of my shop further. I cater to passengers on platform 6 and there were instances when customers avoided buying edibles from my shop due to the foul smell emanating from the garbage nearby. Now, it’s all clean,” said Kumar, brimming with gratitude towards the central government.
Owing to the same initiative, cleanliness has also arrived at other platforms and even the trains. “Platforms, especially 1 and 2, are cleaned and mopped after the departure of every train. It’s a big change, especially for stations in UP,” said an officer related to deployment of cleaning staff at the station. “Strict instructions have been issued to keep the platforms and the station premises clean,” informed Ashwani Srivastava, senior divisional commercial manager (DCM), NR, Lucknow.
NER’s Lucknow Junction, the second busiest station in the city, also has a cleaner look about it. “Station is much clean er than before. It was only after the top officers came down here and cleaned it up – setting an example in front of others – that cleanliness became a common feature,” said another officer with NER.
However, the situation is slightly different at other small stations of the city. At Aishbagh station, the platforms were found not as clean as at Charbagh.
At other small stations, including Gomti Nagar station, City Station and others, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is yet to do wonders.
Daily rush of 1.25 lakh passengers
Charbagh station, the busiest station of Northern Railways (NR), has a load of around 287 trains, including both mail and express.
On an average, the station witnesses a daily rush of 1.25 lakh passengers.
Recently the station witnessed ‘Operation Clean’ in which 345 passengers were fined.
112 were fined for littering the platforms and 233 for urinating at non-designated places.
NR officials recovered fine of Rs 22,900 from the defaulters.
Lucknow Junction
North Eastern Railways Lucknow Junction has the load of 42 trains on a daily basis.
On an average, the station witnesses a daily rush of 25,000 passengers.