WR begins survey to ensure clean toilets at stations

Out of 59 toilet blocks on rail premises within Western Railway’s Mumbai division, 32 are pay-and-use facilities managed and operated by private contractors

Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) is conducting a comprehensive survey of all toilet blocks at railway stations within the Mumbai division, including the Churchgate-Dahanu route. The survey, which commenced earlier this week, will gauge the cleanliness and operational efficiency of toilet blocks, and contractors concerned will be penalised in case of deficiencies, said railway officials.

A toilet block in Mahim station (Hindustan Times)

“Our teams will visit all toilet blocks on rail premises and document the smallest of details – such as broken tiles and pots, missing taps, leaky faucets and pipes and stained washbasins,” Pankaj Singh, divisional railway manager (Mumbai), WR, told Hindustan Times. “In case of pay-and-use toilets, contractors operating them will be held responsible if the premises are found unclean.”

Out of 59 toilet blocks on rail premises within Western Railway’s Mumbai division, 32 are pay-and-use facilities managed and operated by private contractors. Nine more pay-and-use toilets blocks are coming up at Khar, Andheri, Vile Parle, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali, Bhayandar and Vasai.

The WR receives 10-15 complaints a day regarding stinking, clogged toilets and officials are currently studying these and identifying problem areas as well as stations with maximum complaints. This will be followed by physical inspection of toilet blocks and video calls with the staff operating them, said sources.

“We have already started making video calls to the contractual staff for real-time updates on cleanliness. Apart from the toilet blocks, we are asking them to show the surrounding platform and station areas as well,” said an official.

During these calls, contractors are sometimes called to the station and the deficiencies are explained to them; then the supervisor concerned is asked to rectify the deficiencies, said the official. The calls are recorded in the database for further follow-ups, he noted.

“Based on the findings of the survey, we will reprimand contractors,” the official said. In 2024, WR had imposed penalties worth ₹21 lakh on contractors operating pay-and-use toilets.

Commuters and passenger associations welcomed the move and said strict action should be taken against errant contractors.

“These contractors should be blacklisted and not just fined. Railway authorities should also look at the option of roping in large corporates to adopt toilets as part of their CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities,” said Kailash Verma, a railway passenger activist.