RailEnquiry

Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has urged residents of Chandigarh to help keep the city clean and mooted the idea of introducing mini trucks to lift garbage dumped outside homes.Lamenting that he comes across waste and construction material dumped outside many homes, the Congress MP from Chandigarh said, "It is the responsibility of all of us to keep Chandigarh clean"."Leaders like Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Pratap Singh Kairon (late Punjab Chief Minister) had great dreams about Chandigarh and laid its foundations."I don't hesitate to say this that we (residents) are not keeping the city as clean as we should," Bansal said while addressing a public gathering after inaugurating Community Centre in Sector 22-B here this evening. He also rued that cycle tracks in the city, which were meant to help decongest road traffic, were not being put to their intended use.The Minister mooted the idea of introducing mini trucks to pick up garbage and said people can pay nominal charge for availing the service. He said he was ready to offer help in this project from his MPLAD funds.Earlier, he said that the Community Centre in the area was a long pending demand of the people."Not all can afford to pay heavy sums to book banquet halls and marriage halls for solemnising functions. People can pay nominal sums of money to avail various facilities at the Community Centre," he said.As the Community Centre is located in a densely populated area in the heart of the city, Bansal advised the residents not to play loud music during the restricted hours which might bother others.Meanwhile, speaking at a separate function here yesterday, Bansal gave assurance that the facilities at Chandigarh Railway Station will be upgraded.Four escalators will be installed and connectivity of the city will be increased, he said, speaking at a function organised to felicitate him at Tagore Theatre in Sector 18.Around 100 organisations in the city, including Residents' Welfare Associations, social, religious and other organisations had gathered to honour him for taking over as the Railways Minister recently.