Kesinga: The Kesinga railway station under Sambalpur Division is presently struggling with a plethora of problems.
The station used to have a ‘coach display facility’ or electronic board. This facility has been out of order for a year now. As a result, the passengers, particularly elderly ones, are facing problems. Express trains stop at the station for two-three minutes only. So people find it difficult to get the exact location of the coaches. There is always a mad rush of people whenever trains halt at the station. At times passengers even miss trains due to the lack of the display facility.
The men’s and women’s toilets situated on platform No.1 do not have any power connection. So people find it difficult to use once the sun sets.
Similarly, a broken tile on the platform in front of Book Stall No. 1 is causing problems to all those who visit the station. People often stumble against this broken tile and fall and suffer injuries.
People also are complaining about the withdrawal of the announcement facility. Kesinga is one of the important stations in this division. As a result the station is a halt for many important trains. Lack of announcements about arrival and departure of trains cause passengers insurmountable difficulties. Also the foot overbridge at the station plunges into darkness after sunset because the lights at the FOB have been defunct for last couple of days. Due to this, passengers face difficulties going from one platform to another.
Also there is no drinking water facility at the station. There are taps but without water. Recently an engineer was suspended for failing to make the taps functional. One rest room for passengers is available at the station. It is situated at platform No.4. However, platforms No. 1, 2 and 3 do not have any restrooms. The rest room on platform No.4 is so dirty that it cannot be used.
When contacted, Kesinga railway station master Sibash Meher said the coach display facility will remain non-functional till March. The contract of the firm running and maintaining it has expired. A fresh tender will be floated and a new contractor will be awarded the job. So the display board will be functional from April. “In fact, the coach display boards at all railway stations are presently not functioning,” informed Meher.
Kesinga station is regarded as the gateway of Kalahandi district. It is so because passengers travelling to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Hyderabad have to board the trains from this station only. However, the apathy in maintaining passenger facilities makes life doubly difficult.
PNN
