A new escalator facility at platform no. 1 of Dadar station. Nirmal Harindran A new escalator facility at platform no. 1 of Dadar station. Nirmal Harindran

NOT A single station from the Mumbai suburban section has made it to a list of 10 cleanest stations in the country compiled by the Indian Railways after a third-party survey. While Bandra is at the 15th rank, popular stations for outstation commuters, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) on the Central Railway (CR) and Mumbai Central on the Western Railway (WR), ranked 44th and 27th, respectively.

The survey assessed the cleanliness of 407 railway stations in the country, out of which 75 are under A1 category — accounting for an annual passenger revenue of more than Rs 50 crore each. The CST and Mumbai Central are both A1 category stations. The other stations surveyed included 332 A category stations, which account for an annual revenue of between Rs 6 crore to Rs 50 crore each. From Maharashtra, Pune was ranked 9th among the 20 cleanest stations under the A1 category, and Ahmadnagar ranked third in the A category stations.

According to the survey, smaller railway stations such as Jammu Tawi in Jammu and Kashmir, Beas in Punjab, Warangal in Andhra Pradesh and Khammam and Mancherial junctions in Telangana have outperformed major stations in Mumbai. The survey also mentions LTT at the 60th rank, Kalyan junction at 63rd and Dadar at 70th rank among the A1 category stations.

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched the survey report in Delhi Wednesday.The four-part survey, conducted by the Quality Council of India, assessed the stations by repetitive evaluation of measures to maintain cleanliness, inspection of station premises, commuter feedback and interviews with station managers. A team of 150 assessors conducted the survey and interviewed more than 12.2 lakh passengers in the country. “Especially in railway stations in Mumbai, slum-dwellers tend to sleep on the platforms during monsoons and use station toilets in large numbers. These factors add to the challenges in keeping stations clean,” Prabhu said at the function.

All the six railway stations in the city witness a daily average passenger count of more than 1 lakh and witness both suburban and outstation commute. “There are bigger challenges in maintaining cleanliness at railways stations in Mumbai. Higher footfall of commuters at all of these stations add to the vulnerabilities,” Ravinder Goyal, Divisional Railway Manager, CR said. Prabhu also launched the Swachch Rail portal for commuters to give feedback regarding the cleanliness of stations.

“The survey hints at a failure by the rail authorities regarding utilisation of taxpayers’ money. While the common man is made to suffer a levy of the Swachch Bharat Cess for every service, no results are seen,” said Vandana S, a representative of the Mumbai suburban railway committee.

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