Title - Seniors turn cleaners, put railways to shame

Chennai: Frustrated by official apathy, a handful of senior citizens on Saturday picked up brooms and did the mopping up job to clean some of the ‘stinking’ stations on the Beach-Velachery MRTS route.     Senior citizens of the Tr­affic & Transportation Fo­rum surprised railway staff from Velachery to Tiru­va­nmiyur railway stations as they wielded brooms and mops for over an hour de­spite their frail bodies. Th­ey held placards asking the people not to litter the stations.   R. Gururajan, a volunteer, said, “A foreigner wo­uld definitely look down up­on us if he came to these stinking stations. “We wo­n’t let that happen. We wo­n’t wait for the government either,” he added.   Vasudevan, president of Federation of South Ch­ennai Welfare Association, said, “Railways should put the remaining vacant station space to commercial use and utilize the revenue to keep the stations clean.”    It has been two months since the railways sanitation contract expired. “Aut­horities should identify new contractors before an existing contract expires,” he said referring to the budgetary allocation of three percent for safety and beautification of stations.    TTF advisor D Gopala­krishnan says; “Railways should not expect people to do its job. It is time authorities found a solution.”    V. J. Accamma, chief PRO, Southern Railway, said tenders had been floated for sanitation works. States:  Tamil Nadu