Patna Junction flunks cleanliness test

PATNA: A recent cleanliness survey, conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) on behalf of the railways, has placed the Patna Junction at the 91st position, out of 407 major stations. This includes 75 busiest stations in India that have been ranked in A-1 category (stations with over Rs 60 crore in annual earnings) and 332 stations that are part of category A (earnings between Rs 8 crore and Rs 60 crore). Only six stations in Bihar, including Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Chhapra, Bhagalpur and Darbhanga, fall under the A-1 category.

None of the railway stations of Bihar, falling under the East Central Railway (ECR) zone, figures on the list of top 20 cleanest stations of the country. In fact, the Sagauli (405), Madhubani (406) and Jogbani (407) stations — all in Bihar — are said to be the dirtiest.

Out of 1000, the overall score of the Patna Junction is 719. Under the ECR zone, it has bagged the third spot after the Mughalsarai and Hajipur stations.

According to sources, the survey is done on the basis of parameters like cleanliness in waiting rooms and parking lots, main entry area and on platforms, direct observation done by QCI accessors, feedback from passengers, clean toilets, tracks as well as dustbins.

As per the survey report, the Patna Junction has scored 35.29% (out of 100) in parking area category, 57.39% in availability of cleaning staff, 65.07% in cleanliness in main entry area, 75.28% in cleanliness of waiting rooms and 96.3% in cleanliness of main platform category.

“The main problem at the Patna Junction is the parking of vehicles as the area is congested and the daily passenger flow is very high. Even if we deploy cleanliness workers, they cannot clean the area properly due to the large number of vehicles parked near the entrance and portico of the station,” ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar on Monday said and added the station had fared well in other categories.

Passengers’ feedback was taken on ten parameters — cleanliness of platforms, toilets, waiting rooms, drinking water booths, availability of dustbins, pest and rodents and foul smell at station, among others. The Patna station got 97.33% in availability of dustbins, 82.27% in drinking water booths, 83.33% in pests and rodents free platforms and 62.44% in cleanliness of toilets.

Boring Road resident Anamika Sinha said, “The station platform and waiting areas have improved, but the area outside is a mess. It is impossible to park vehicles on the station premises.”

Courtesy: TNN