Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 6: The Railway Board’s order to 16 zonal railways to engage a single firm for cleanliness at A1 category stations has put the East Coast Railway (ECoR) on tenterhooks.
ECoR is in a dilemma whether to cancel existing contracts of different firms roped in for sanitation for A1 category stations such as Bhubaneswar, Puri and Vishakhapatnam or wait for their contract period to end before engaging a single agency.
The diktat also envisages monitoring of cleanliness through CCTV cameras installed at the stations under integrated security system (ISS).
More than a dozen sanitation firms have been engaged by ECoR for cleanliness at Puri, Bhubaneswar and Vizag. The authorities fear that if existing contracts are terminated by the railways, the firms may move the High Court and this would complicate matters.
The board’s directive suggests that the railway top brass are not happy with the prevailing standard of cleanliness at A1 category stations and the practice of engaging multiple sanitation agencies for cleanliness. ECoR has been drawing flak because of the lack of cleanliness in and around the city and Puri railway stations because of callousness of the agencies concerned and several departments.
According to the Railway Board’s circular, ECoR has to award an integrated cleanliness contract to a single agency for three years for the three A1 category stations, which should cover a large geographical area.
The contract should include all aspects of sanitation, including cleaning of the station, tracks, garbage lifting, pest and rodent control and trash segregation.
Zonal railway authorities have also been advised to visit airports, five star hotels and corporate hospitals to study their maintenance methods and emulate their cleanliness standards.
ECoR officials remained tightlipped on the issue.