ALARM BELLS
City railway stations fail cleanliness test 04.10.2019
Officials Promise Action After None Of Them Figure In Top 50 Of Sanitation Survey
V Ayyappan & Siddharth Prabhakar TNN
Three of the biggest railway stations in the city — MGR Central, Egmore and Tambaram — have plunged new depths in the ‘Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat 2019’ report on cleanliness released on Wednesday.
None of them figures in the top 50 in the rankings. Central is ranked at 58 (36 in 2018), Egmore is at 149 (27) and Tambaram 321 (62). Southern Railway zone has slipped to 12 in overall cleanliness ratings from its position of seven last year.
This is despite the fact that crores of money have been spent on sanitation contracts to keep these stations clean.
Official estimates suggest Southern Railway spent ₹80lakh a month at Central and ₹35 to 40 lakh a month at Egmore for cleanliness. A good part of the cleaning has been mechanised.
“The Railways clean these stations efficiently only during Swachh campaigns done annually,” said a passenger. The three railway stations look spick and span at present as the Swachh campaign is on, he said.
The 2019 report studied 720 railway stations across India. While Jaipur emerged as the overall leader in the category, the three stations of Chennai are laggards when compared to stations such as Yeshwanthpur, Pune, Secunderabad, Dadar and Surat, all of which were classified in the same category in terms passenger footfall.
Railway officials said these three stations were compared last year with A1 category stations, while this year, they have been clubbed together with big and small stations based on passenger footfall and revenue.
“It is unfair to compare rankings of small and big stations together. Chennai is doing better than other metros in the country. This is an achievement considering that the cleanliness expectation in Tamil Nadu and Chennai is higher than other states,” said a senior official.
DRM P Mahesh claimed that MGR Central has done better than last year if rankings of only the big stations are compared. Another senior railway official said all departments have been advised to study the rankings and its parameters and act on it.
Southern Railway general manager John Thomas said, “The feedback on perception of cleanliness is a reason for the low rating. The general cleanliness is better here. Once a place is already clean, the improvement level can be less. If it’s not clean, the improvement level will be high. In the north in the last one year, there was a significant improvement in cleanliness. We will look at station-level to find out where it has come down and will improve”
There, however, is a saving grace. Railway stations in southern zone have fared better in terms of Green initiatives. MGR Central has been ranked at 66, while Egmore is at 61.
City railway stations fail cleanliness test 04.10.2019
Officials Promise Action After None Of Them Figure In Top 50 Of Sanitation Survey
V Ayyappan & Siddharth Prabhakar TNN
Three of the biggest railway stations in the city — MGR Central, Egmore and Tambaram — have plunged new depths in the ‘Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat 2019’ report on cleanliness released on Wednesday.
None of them figures in the top 50 in the rankings. Central is ranked at 58 (36 in 2018), Egmore is at 149 (27) and Tambaram 321 (62). Southern Railway zone has slipped to 12 in overall cleanliness ratings from its position of seven last year.
This is despite the fact that crores of money have been spent on sanitation contracts to keep these stations clean.
Official estimates suggest Southern Railway spent ₹80lakh a month at Central and ₹35 to 40 lakh a month at Egmore for cleanliness. A good part of the cleaning has been mechanised.
“The Railways clean these stations efficiently only during Swachh campaigns done annually,” said a passenger. The three railway stations look spick and span at present as the Swachh campaign is on, he said.
The 2019 report studied 720 railway stations across India. While Jaipur emerged as the overall leader in the category, the three stations of Chennai are laggards when compared to stations such as Yeshwanthpur, Pune, Secunderabad, Dadar and Surat, all of which were classified in the same category in terms passenger footfall.
Railway officials said these three stations were compared last year with A1 category stations, while this year, they have been clubbed together with big and small stations based on passenger footfall and revenue.
“It is unfair to compare rankings of small and big stations together. Chennai is doing better than other metros in the country. This is an achievement considering that the cleanliness expectation in Tamil Nadu and Chennai is higher than other states,” said a senior official.
DRM P Mahesh claimed that MGR Central has done better than last year if rankings of only the big stations are compared. Another senior railway official said all departments have been advised to study the rankings and its parameters and act on it.
Southern Railway general manager John Thomas said, “The feedback on perception of cleanliness is a reason for the low rating. The general cleanliness is better here. Once a place is already clean, the improvement level can be less. If it’s not clean, the improvement level will be high. In the north in the last one year, there was a significant improvement in cleanliness. We will look at station-level to find out where it has come down and will improve”
There, however, is a saving grace. Railway stations in southern zone have fared better in terms of Green initiatives. MGR Central has been ranked at 66, while Egmore is at 61.
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