Railway officials’ various measures to maintain the standard of cleanliness at Pune railway station has not borne fruit as the railway board report for 2018 has ranked Pune 25th on the list in terms of cleanliness. The station was ranked 9th on the list last year (2017).
Central Railways officials, Pune division, justified the drop in ranking on the various ongoing infrastructure development projects such as construction of footover bridge (FOB) and installation of escalators.
DK Sharma, general manager, Central Railways, said, “As many development works are being carried out at the Pune station, it is bound to affect the cleanliness aspect of the place. It is the major reason for Pune faring so bad in the cleanliness report.”
He added, “Stations that have scored well in the list are small and witness a considerably less footfall. Hence, it is not entirely correct to say that authorities are not doing anything in terms of cleanliness at Pune railway station.”
A senior official from Central Railways, Pune division, on condition of anonymity said, “When the survey was conducted, construction work of escalators along with basic infrastructure work was underway. As a result, the station was untidy which has resulted in poor ranking in the cleanliness aspect.