Title - Untidy, ill-equipped Cantt station at your service this monsoon too

VARANASI: It seems that the authorities of Cantonment railway station are least prepared to face monsoon like every year. The visit of the divisional railway manager on Tuesday, who gave three days time to make the situation better, failed to bring any change in the station, which is categorized as 'A' in terms of revenue generation.

Over 100 trains, including mail, express and passenger, pass through this station every day. A load of estimated 80,000 passengers, which extend to over 1 lakh during vacations and festive seasons, is witnessed here daily.

The station, having nine platforms, hardly remains free from overcrowding as there is arrival or departure of trains every 15 minutes. Despite that, the railway station is not upgrading and changing the way it should be in terms of passenger amenities and hygiene.

All the drains in the circulating area are overflowing.

The condition near the public convenience was also out of gear. It was clear that the choked drains are not going to serve any purpose when it may rain heavily, causing waterlogging in the circulating area.

The roof of the parcel office at platform number one was found leaking due to damage in pipelines and rainwater accumulated on it. The roof leaks every year and the employees have to rush the parcels to safer side to avoid damage.

The vendors said that the problem of leakage is there almost on all the platforms.

The condition of waiting area behind the food plaza is worst.

The passengers had a difficult time, trying to find a clean space to keep the luggage and sit. The water-logged platforms also add to their woes. Ranjeet Singh, who looks after the pay and use toilet complex in the waiting area, said: "The rainfall on Wednesday led to waterlogging in the waiting area and it is yet to be cleaned. The safai workers have not carried out sweeping in the area for past three days."

"Passengers do not like waiting here due to untidy situation but when it rain they have no option but to wait in the waiting area. The vicinity of food plaza is also a reason why passengers come here. The crowd of passengers and the rainfall makes the situation worst and untidy, despite that no special attention is given to this area," said Singh. The railway tracks on all the platforms were littered with rotten garbage and it was evident that the tracks had not been cleaned for days.

Station manager AK Pandey said the railway tracks are cleaned on regular basis along with the platforms.

The cleanliness would improve in the coming days, he informed.