Mumbai: Indian railway passengers aren't exactly known for their exemplary standards of cleanliness. Very few of them are aware of the disadvantage of throwing garbage on the railway stations. CSMT, one of the oldest stations of the country, is also badly hit by this menace. On a daily average, around 7000 kg garbage\waste is collected by the railway authorities from this iconic railway station, which includes nearly 1000 kgs of vegetables, fruit skins and waste food. Railway spends around Rs five crores on the cleanliness and housekeeping of CSMT.
Confirming the development, a senior officer from the Central Railway said, "Keeping in mind the huge number of trains originating and arrival at CSMT, we deployed over hundreds of cleaning staff. They are working round clock to keep the station clean. Besides that, over two dozen machines are also made available to keep the platforms clean."
Every day almost 1000 trains leave and arrive at CSMT. The daily footfall at the station is around 5 lakhs. It has 28 multipurpose stalls, including four restaurants.
Nearly 100 pairs of dustbins have been installed at every corner of the platforms as well as on the foot over bridges. Asked about the handling process of huge garbage, officials said, "Garbage from every dustbin collected thrice a day and accumulated at the outer portion of the station, which is collected by the BMC's waste department."
Kanta Bai, 35, part for the cleaning staff at CSMT, said, "Though a lot of people do use the dustbin, but a few of them still throw garbage on the corners of platforms and foot over bridge, she further added, "Moping of the platforms is not possible during peak hours, hence we focus on cleaning the platforms during non-peak hours - night and afternoon."
Asked about the major problems faced by the staff, Suresh Chavan (30), said, "Removing paan and gutka stains is still a big challenge. Some people spit on the handles of dustbins and edge of platforms too."
Meanwhile, Central Railway's Chief Public Relation Officer Shivaji Sutar said all efforts were being made to keep the premises clean. "We are trying our best to keep our trains and stations clean. Awareness campaigns are being carried out continuously to educate the passengers. Apart from that, announcements are also being made directing passengers to use dustbins provided as stations,'' he said.
