The 'Swachh Bharat' movement by the slick-tongued PM, spawned a number of campaigns. Some lasted a few days, while some took it to another level
PM Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan completed one year last month. The movement by the slick-tongued PM, spawned a number of campaigns. Some lasted a few days, others as little as a few clicks of the cameras as publicity hounds wielded brooms at certain strategic locations in the city for a quick media picture.
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Mithibai College students clean Vile Parle station
Yet others, though look like they are here to stay. Like, station adoption for instance. Rotary International District 3140, adopted eight railway stations in the city. These are Thane and Dombivali on the Central Railway, Borivali, Kandivali, Bandra and Khar Road on the Western Railway and Govandi and Mankhurd on the Harbour Line.
The Rotary will look after the upkeep of these eight stations right till 2018. This is a spin off from the concept of Swachh Bharat taken ahead by Railway Minister Sunil Prabhu when he urged the Railways to allow charitable institutions, social organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to adopt stations.
The Rotary actually followed a number of NGOs and colleges which have adopted Railway stations. The challenge is to let the campaigns sustain, not let eventual fatigue overcome initial fervour, and keep up the work.
Railway speak
Comparing the adoption of railway stations to the adoption of a child, SK Sood, General Manager of Central Railway says, “The Railways treated all stations equally and so we had standardised benches and toilets.
Now, with the adoption of stations, the local guardian will be in-charge of parking space, toilets, posters, etc. We want good people to come forward and not use this adoption to make profits by favouring certain contractors, but to make this a, for the public by the public initiative.”
Sood is confident that the station adoption drive in the city will gain momentum and be sustained over a period of time. “People are taking responsibility of their stations and this is spreading positive culture. Littering and spitting will stop, and it is when every person feels a sense of ownership about the station. like he or she feels about their house that it will achieve its goal,” he adds.
The adoption of Borivali, Kandivali, Bandra and Khar Road will be the first on the Western Railway. There has been cleanliness work carried out at Charni Road, Vile Parle and Malad stations by educational institutions from the area.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Western Railway says, “This is our first attempt at allowing adoption on the Western Railways. We allowed clean ups at various stations prior to this, but that was for a very short duration.”
He drew a distinction between adoption and the clean ups saying that adoption gave the concerned institution the right to make structural changes, with the approval of the railways in addition to cleanliness and beautification.
Structural changes allowed are building more toilets, delegating railway land for parking, building benches, putting water coolers. Adoption also allows guardians to paint the walls near the ticket booking counters, platforms as well as the external walls. A number of other stations have been cleaned and adopted like King’s Circle and Wadala.
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