JOIN USMugad Railway Station sets benchmark for other stations
The Railway Station constructed at Mugad which is located 10 km away from this 'City of Intellectuals', has got the credit of becoming India's first model railway station.
Buoyed with the achievement of the SWR staff, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has not only thanked the staff for their dedicated effort, but has also mentioned it in his Facebook account on Thursday that Mugad Railway Station is the first model railway station in the country.
In his Facebook account, the minister has uploaded a 55-second video of this railway station and also had uploaded a few pictures of the railway station.
He has mentioned that 'A Model to Replicate: Mugad station in Dharwad, Karnataka, has set a benchmark for other stations to follow, with 10 km of spick & span tracks that have been painted red & white, a charming garden, and the planting of Lily, Rose & Kakada flowers in and around the station.'
Unlike other railway stations which always comes under the scanner of the commuters for several reasons including lack of basic facilities, cleanliness, and others, this railway station has been attracting the people and is turning out to be sight-seeing place in an and around Dharwad.
The SWR staff have toiled hard to see that cleanliness and greenery is given utmost priority at this railway station. A passenger who comes to board train here hardly finds any waste strewn in the railway station.
Adding to this, a beautiful garden too has been set up in the railway station premises here giving an enchanting view of lush green plants and trees.
The work of the staff has not ended here. They have walked an extra mile to see that the 10km track is painted with red and white colour. These tracks are cleaned twice a day so that no foul smell or waste in dumped on it.
Pilot project
The SWR Hubballi division had taken up the project of making some of the railway stations under its jurisdiction as a model railway station. This decision comes following instructions from the Union Minister Piyush Goyal to raise the standards of the railway station in the country to facilitate the passengers have a pleasant journey.
Under this project, the SWR selected Mugad Railway station and with a dedicated staff of 25 persons, this railway station has been made a model railway station.
Now, the SWR is contemplating to develop the Dharwad Railway Station, and the Koppal Railway Station as model railway station before bringing other railway stations under the ambit of this project.
The staff here clean the platforms and also the tracks after passing of every train. Waste bins have been set up in the station and the passengers should not litter. The staff motivate to maintain cleanliness and also impart cleanliness lessons to the people.
Senior Section Engineer Shafi Kazi said that every day, the railway station is cleaned twice-in morning and in the evening. A beautiful garden has been set up here and over 12 varieties of flowering plants have been planted. To make the tracks look attractive, red and white paints have been applied to them. This apart, water purification unit too has been established here to help thousands of passengers coming here every day to board trains to Goa, he said.
South Western Railway General Manager Ajay Kumar Singh has given a cash award of Rs 5000 along with an appreciation certificate to Shafi Kazi, for this innovative work towards "Swach Rail". General Manager has advised that this should be replicated at other major stations on South Western Railway.