Passengers demand commuter-friendly renovation at U’nr

Commuters are alleging that the ongoing renovation at Ulhasnagar station is seemingly not being executed properly and are asking for more passenger amenities at the station
The Central Railway is renovating the Ulhasnagar railway station. However commuters say that this renovation is going to be of no use as they are working without any development plan. The Central Railway (CR) is spending Rs 25 lakh on the renovation work.
The work at the station started four months back and is still continuing. Resultantly the commuters have to face troubles because of several hurdles at the entrance area of the station. Ulhasnagar is one of the busiest stations on the Karjat - Kalyan route of the CR and currently witnesses more than 75,000 commuters daily. The station generates monthly revenue of Rs 2 crore.
Initially the station premise was in ramshackle condition and the railways constructed a bigger structure in 1995. During 13 years of its existence, the CR spent approximately Rs 15 lakh on its repair work and in the present year, they are planning to spend Rs 25 lakh without any proper plan.
Ganesh Patil, a regular railway commuter and an architect by profession informs, "It seems that the work is going on without any proper planning just as it was when it was constructed 10 years back. If the construction work was done with proper planning, then there would have been no need of the ongoing renovation work for the next 25 years. However renovating the premise within 13 years of its construction is not a good sign," he says.
Shitaldas Harchandani, president of the Ulhasnagar passengers' association laments, "We were in constant contact with the CR authorities from the last many years for its development. However when we enquired about the development plan, the in-charge for the project was unable to give satisfactory replies.
" Harchandani claims that since the development work is going on without any proper planning, the association is all set to file a PIL against the railways.Regular railway commuters using the Ulhasnagar railway station say that along with the basic structure, the railways should also work on the amenities provided within the station premises. "Several of the coupons validating machines are not working and one booking window on the West side is also usually closed.
Moreover the commuters waiting for trains are harassed by beggars and stray dogs. The railways must also address these problems," complains a commuter. When contacted, the CR authorities tried to dodge the question of the poor planning of the station premises.
A H Yethe, senior section engineer (Vithalwadi - Karjat) informed, "The CR had planned several development and beautification projects for the suburban railway stations.
We recently completed the work at Ambernath station and have started the work at Ulhasnagar," he said. However when enquired about the pathetic condition of the station in 13 years he replied, "There was a problem in the basic structure of the station and therefore we are working on strengthening the foundation," he said. While speaking over these problems, a railway official said that the railway was planning to add five more booking windows in addition to the existing four. domkalplus@gmail.com
Sudesh Malvankar
Posted On Sunday, April 20, 2008
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