Anand Vihar has the worst air pollution in Delhi. But its railway station is among the cleanest in India. Last year, it stood 17th on the list of India’s cleanest railway stations. This year, the Anand Vihar Railway Station climbed to the 5th position in the Swachh Railway report.
Almost 80,000 passengers arrive and leave from the station every day. In addition, 7,000 people come daily to receive or say goodbye to their relatives and friends. It's not easy to keep the station clean.
Keeping the terminal clean is a 24X7 job. One hundred and thirty-nine people work in three shifts of eight hours each. The Anand Vihar Railway Station is an example of staff and resources being used efficiently.
Sometimes litter can be seen around and you feel like complaining. But if you wait for about 10 minutes, you will see a man dressed in a green or an orange jacket sweeping and mopping the area.
Normally tracks are washed in the morning and platforms are washed at night. Toilets are cleaned every two hours and bin bags also changed. Cleaning is a continuous process.
The Anand Vihar Railway Station has an underground drainage system designed to keep the tracks clean. Spray machines that run on the central line between the platforms wash the tracks. Another unique feature of the station is the loading of parcels, food and linen on trains in the stabling area rather than at the platform. This has greatly reduced chances of garbage and litter accumulating on the tracks.
It’s a relatively new station with granite flooring adding to its beauty. Granite looks a lot more beautiful than the old rough flooring that this station had. But a lot of effort is required to keep granite floors clean and shiny. In this image, the area was mopped a minute or two ago and got dirty, again.
