Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat: Cleanliness audit of Ludhiana railway station begins

A two-day cleanliness audit began at the Ludhiana railway station on Monday.

Constituted under the Quality Council of India, the audit team, comprising Ankit Tiwary and Firoze Khan, will conduct a survey and compile an audit report on the basis of various parameters that will determine the rank of the Ludhiana railway station in 2019.

The inspecting officials took note of cleanliness and hygiene parameters and will continue the exercise on Tuesday as well.

The audit will be done in four stages with cleanliness being the first, rainwater harvesting being the second, followed by defecation and citizens’ feedback.

The audit team will take feedback of 200 passengers on Tuesday that will further determine the fate of the Ludhiana station. The station will get a particular green score on the basis of audit report.

Passengers, however, have expressed dissatisfaction over the facilities station has to offer. Manoj Bhatt, a regular commuter, said, “Railways went on to set up a vertical garden last year that lies in a dilapidated state. Tracks and platforms are also in deplorable condition and require urgent maintenance.”

Ludhiana was ranked 56th among 75 Category-A stations across the country under the Swachh Rail Survey last year, while in 2017, the station had secured 68th spot. 

Station director Tarun Kumar said, “We are hopeful of getting a better rank this time as more work has been done to improve the cleanliness and hygiene levels of the station. There are few shortcomings as well, but those will soon be resolved.”