A stroll down the road outside the main entry to Visakhapatnam Railway Station or outside the entry on the Gnanapuram side is enough to gauge the unhygienic surroundings prevailing around the station.
Thousands of visitors come to the station everyday either to receive or see off their near and dear ones, arriving or going by various trains.
Many wait outside the entrance to instead of waiting on the platform and get lost in the crowd or simply to avoid paying for the platform entry ticket.
The visitors come from different economic and social strata and when they do not find toilets, many of them ease themselves at will along the compound wall of the railway station or at some other convenient place nearby.
This explains the reason for the unclean surroundings around the railway station.
One cannot blame the Railways or the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) officials alone. It’s the responsibility of each and every individual to ensure cleanliness at public places. Cleanliness and hygiene should be inculcated in children from a young age so that they do not develop the habit of littering public places.
Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC) member and BJP State executive member Buddha Lakshmi Narayana submitted a representation to the Divisional Railway Manager on June 13 seeking provision of toilets outside the railway station on both sides to improve sanitation around the station.
Mr. Lakshmi Narayana followed it up with the authorities at the 109{+t}{+h}DRUCC meeting held on June 16.
The Railway authorities promptly responded to his plea. Work on provision of toilets beside the Main Road, right opposite the main entrance to the station has already been taken up.
One may wonder that toilets right outside the main entry would be an awful sight.
The modern green toilets could be mistaken for a railway coach from a distance.
The moulded toilets have been erected and septic tank has been constructed below the ground and workers were giving finishing touches on Thursday.
