The government has unveiled its plans to provide five-star amenities at the Margao railway station since the railway station is the gateway for hundreds, if not thousands of tourists to enter and exit the State.
It may take months for the plan to fructify, but what the Margao railway station urgently requires are measures to clean up the railway station premises of mound of dry waste.
In fact, dry waste piled up at the station premises near the Konkan railway police station has made the entire area an eyesore, with the piled up waste not lifted for days now.
The piled up dry waste at the station premises had come to light on the day of the flagging of the Vande Bharat Express train at the Margao railway station.
When The Goan called up KRC senior official, Baban Ghatge to shed light on the waste piled up inside the railway premises, he was quick to point accusing fingers at the Margao Municipal Council, saying the civic body has not lifted the waste despite the KRC making payments to the civic body.
“We have an arrangement with the Margao municipality for periodic lifting of the dry waste generated in the railway station premises. The civic body lifts away the dry waste after payment of money. But, somehow, the MMC has not cleared the waste for some time now,” he said.
Ghatge said he has no idea why the MMC has delayed in lifting the waste, promising to intimate the situation to the MMC officials.
When The Goan, however, called up a MMC official to shed light on the delay in lifting away the dry waste, the official has promised to check the ground reality. He, however, hastened to add that the KRC was told in the past to stack the dry waste in bins instead of allowing the waste to acquire the shape of a dump. “It will help the civic workers if the KRC stacks the dry waste in bags instead of throwing the same in the open,” the official said.
Another senior official further pointed out that since the KRC is a bulk waste generator, the Corporation should set up a baling machine inside the railway property and hand over the dry waste after baling. “The KRC has huge land at its disposal at the Margao railway station. Since the KRC comes under the category of a bulk waste generator, it should handle its waste through a balling machine under CSR,” the official added.
