Cleanliness right on track

Cleanliness right on track
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The city railway station nowadays wears a squeaky clean look. Modern portable machines have been in use for the last two months, to sweep and swab the thickly populated premises.

These vacuum cleaners and scrubbers suck up filth and grime and assist in the maintenance of the station’s hygiene levels despite the high concentration of footfalls all over.

It’s not just the platforms, concourse and reservation block. Even the waiting halls and their toilets, the subway, foot-over bridge, tracks, parking areas and the dormitory get a good sweep and the emphasis everywhere is on cleanliness.

The machines being used are automatic heavy-duty vacuum cleaners, scrubbers, and jet cleaning machines, which the present contractor had bought for Rs 30 lakh. This is the first time that machines are being used to clean the station premises.

“These machines can cover a lot of area very fast. The water also dries up within seconds after scrubbing. As the number of passengers and visitors are increasing by the day, these machines are handy and help us work better,” an employee scrubbing the floor said.

In addition to the machines, there are men and women who physically sweep and swab the entire premises almost on a 24-hour basis. More than 100 people have been employed to clean the vast area.

“We also clean the tracks, which are littered. We use a water jet that washes the tracks and sleepers well. But we get very little time as trains keep coming and going without a break,” a sweeper employed there said.

Railway officials agree that it is a very difficult task to keep the entire station premises clean, as it is very huge.

“But the task has been outsourced to a contractor. I hope they keep the station clean and give no room for complaints,” an official hoped.