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Sand plastic method used to clean Pune railway station heritage building
It will take around two months to carry out a complete cleaning of the heritage building front side. Once complete, the heritage building will get a fresh look, says official
The Pune railway administration is all set to clean and polish the 100-year-old heritage building of the Pune railway station using the ‘sand plastic method’. Stains and dirt will be removed so as to let the front side of the heritage building shine anew.
Indu Rani Dubey, Pune divisional railway manager (DRM), said, “As we have a heritage building at Pune railway station, it is necessary to maintain it for which regular cleaning and maintenance works are going on at the station. As the front side of the building has stains and dirt, we have to clean it up. However, we cannot do so using high-pressure water as the heritage structure needs to be kept intact. Hence, we have decided to clean the outer front of the heritage building using the ‘sand plastic method’.”
“Initially, one part of the building has been cleaned using this unique method. It will take around two months to carry out a complete cleaning of the heritage building front side. Once complete, the heritage building will get a fresh look,” Dubey said.
Passengers have welcomed the move. Nilesh Kulkarni, a regular passenger, said, “I’ve been travelling daily from Pune to Mumbai by train for the past over 20 years. The heritage building colour has become dull over the past few years which might be due to the pollution. If the railway is cleaning the building, it is a good thing and a matter of pride for Punekars.”
The main building of Pune railway station is one of the oldest structures in the city, which was inaugurated on July 27, 1925. It is a one-storey building with the main entrance in the middle. While platform number 1 lies within the heritage building, the other six platforms have been newly built. Daily, there are more than 250 train operations from Pune railway station and nearly 2 lakh passengers travel from here. Train operations at Pune railway station started in 1858. Beginning with just one train from Pune to Khandala, train operations to Solapur and Miraj were later added in 1886.
