Eyes accustomed to dirty floors and walls at the Mylapore railway station now have something to feast on.
The sides of the station have been landscaped at a cost of Rs. 2 lakh as part of a beautification project by the Railways.
“Top officials who inspected the area wanted the makeover,” said a maintenance section engineer (works) overseeing the landscaping work. “People going to the nearby wine shop, come and sit in front of the station and make a mess of the place,” the engineer said and hoped this would stop after the beautification work.
“Already a project has been completed at Velachery station. Chintadripet is next in line for a beautification project,” he said. According to sources, soil from Chepauk station had to be brought for landscaping work at the Thirumailai station. Korean carpet grass, manure and the plants, including pisonia grantis, adinium obseium, ficus black, uca marginata, ficus kingpush and blue maria albha were brought from a farm at Velachery. On its part the Railways has done its job, isn’t it now the responsibility of the public not be despoil it?
Early on Friday morning, sitting on one of the steps leading to the station, a man made a grunting noise and spat close to the new landscape, before proceeding to read a newspaper. He seemed oblivious to the fact a small garden had come up nearby.