Chennai: The 2019 Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat ranking that ranks the stations based on several factors and Pazhavanthangal railway station in Chennai occupies the eighth place in the list of unclean stations in India.
The reasons are aplenty and obvious as far as Pazhavanthangal station is concerned. During several instances, residents of the neighbourhood and commuters have raised a range of problems.

It is to be noted that among the list, Tamilnadu tops the table with six stations in the list of 10 unclean stations. The design of the survey was evaluating the process, direct observation and citizen feedback.

In the first criteria, the examination was done relating to cleanliness of key places such as parking area, main entry, main platform and waiting room in the station. Inspection of conservancy workers’ safety was also a part of the list.

WHERE TO PARK?

We visited the station to find out what pushed the station to the adverse state and present our observations.
The Pazhavanthangal station lacks a parking space for its own unlike other stations. Commuters use the private facility and rue about the absence of space during the peak time. The others park their vehicles near the subway and block the way.

NO TOILETS

A few months ago the Southern Railways department commissioned the project to build toilets in all stations.

Accordingly, the work got over in Pazhavanthagal, yet remains locked. Asked a railway official, he stated that the facility is functional and stated that the keys are in possession with the conservancy workers. However, when asked several commuters, in they state that the toilet has been locked for days together.

“There is no toilet here. One has to go to either Meenambakkam or St Thomas Mount to use the facility,’ said a worker. However, the worker later admitted that it is available but has been locked. ‘It has not been opened to the public yet and a separate worker for the duty has not been appointed,” the worker added.

It was also visible that the sanitary workers did not wear safety gears such as masks and hand gloves.
Although there are coloured bins to segregate wastes, they are abruptly deployed in the station and no signboards are in place for details.

SAFETY GONE FOR TOSS

Senior citizens, children and women commuters feel unsafe to entry and exit the station during the uncommon hours. Thanks to the two State-owned wine shops present in the vicinity and absence of proper lighting that make the matters worse.