india

Updated: Aug 27, 2019 22:15 IST

A team of officials is expected to visit the railway station here on Wednesday for cleanliness audit. Station authorities were seen making last-minute preparations for the audit on Tuesday. Workers were seen cleaning platforms and railway tracks and painting railings. All efforts were being made to present a clean picture of the station.

Station authorities had also set up a help desk window a couple of weeks ago and the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) had donated a plastic crushing machine a year ago to the railway station. But both the facilities remain non-operational most of the time, according to passengers.

Passengers were unsatisfied with the other facilities as well.

Ankur Goyal, a commuter, said, “The help desk window at the railway station fails to work at times. The same is the case with the plastic crushing machine.”

Another commuter, Sapandeep Kaur, complained, “Dustbins were placed at the station only today ahead of the audit. The condition of the platforms is not good and a lot needs to be done for cleanliness."

“We have been working to our full capacity and, hopefully, Ludhiana station will get a better rank this time,” said chief health inspector Harish. Passengers’ complaints are taken into account and will be taken care of," he added.

General manager, Northern Railways, had visited the station on August 12 and expressed his unhappiness over the poor cleanliness levels. The GM took note of the dirty tracks with garbage littered all around and also the terrible state of the platforms.

‘PLASTIC CRUSHER WORKING TO FULL CAPACITY’

“The plastic crushing machine is working to the best if its capacity," said Ajay Singh, commercial inspector. He stated, "We are planning to make the station green and plastic bottles won’t be used at the station after October 2.”

In the 2018 audit, Ludhiana was ranked 56th among 75 stations across the country under the Swachh rail survey- 2018 while in 2017, the station was placed at the 68th rank.