MANGALORE CNTL

Southern Railway has launched a special Cleanliness drive from 10^th August to 16^th August 2020  to mark the 74^th Independence Day celebrations of our nation.  With o­nly limited special trains running in view of lockdown measures, Southern Railway has taken advantage of this opportunity to carry out massive Cleanliness campaign.

 This weeklong drive primarily focuses o­n the cleanliness of railway stations and premises, colonies, work sites, water vending points, toilets, drains, and other areas such as approach roads in the vicinity of railway stations with a special focus of railway tracks. While focusing o­n cleanliness of tracks special attention has been given to collection of plastic waste along with other waste.  Further, at Workshops and coaching depots, offices and store rooms were thoroughly cleaned by involving staff in a dedicated way to carry out every possible cleanliness tasks.

In Southern Railway, the Cleanliness drive has picked up pace with 266 stations across the six divisions covered during the period from 10^th to 13^th August, 2020.

In Chennai Division, Cleanliness activities were undertaken at 142 railway stations.  At Dr MGR Chennai Central, the tracks were cleaned by removing plastic waste and vegetation alongside besides Platforms, toilets and concourse area.  Similarly, intensive Cleanliness drives were carried out at major stations like Chennai Egmore, Basin Bridge, Tiruttani , Katpadi, Tambaram, Madurantakam, among others.  Suburban stations like Mambalam, Chennai Beach, Chennai Park, Avadi, Tiruninravur, Sullurpet, Tiruvottiyur and Tirumailai (MRTS) were cleaned up, to mention a few.

In Madurai Division,Cleanliness activities were carried out at 56 railway stations – Madurai, Ambasamudram, Dindigul, Karaikudi, Pudukotttai, Tuticorin, Tenakasi, Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar, among others.

In Tiruchchirappalli Division, Cleanliness activities were ramped up at 12 locations – Tiruchchirappalli Jn, Tanjavur, Villuppuram, Vriddhachalam, Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai, to name a few.

In Salem Division,  11 stations have been covered in the Cleanliness drive so far that include Salem Jn, Coimbatore, Erode and Karur.  NMR stations like Mettupalayam and Udagamandalam also sported neat and tidy looks upon undertaking intensive cleanliness drives.

In Palakkad Division, 31 stations were cleaned up  that include Palakkad, Kozhikode, Mangalore Central, Kuttipuram, Shoranur, Kanhangad, to mention a few.

In Thiruvananthapuram Division, Cleanliness drives were undertaken at 14 stations that include Alleppey,  Alwaye, Ernakulam Town, Kochuveli, Thiruvananthapuram Central, to name a few.

Intensive Cleanliness drives were also carried out at the three premier workshops of Southern Railway viz., Golden Rock Workshop, Loco Works and C&W Workshops at Perambur .  Store rooms of workshops and coaching depots were cleaned and materials sorted to give a clean look.

All the laid down safety protocols such as wearing of masks and social distancing were strictly enforced among employees participating in the Cleanliness drives. 

Southern Railway appeals to rail users and general public to join hands with Railways in this noble cause of maintaining high standards of Cleanliness at railway stations and trains.  Truly, this would be a befitting tribute to our Motherland o­n this Independence Day. 

The Business Development Unit of Palakkad Division of Southern Railway tasted its first sweet of success when a demand to transport packaged palm oil from Mangaluru to Lucknow was materialised last week. Within a week of forming the new Business Development Unit, the division was able to capture a demand for 42 wagons of packaged palm oil from Panamburu goods shed to Mohanlalganj near Lucknow, 2500 km away. Loaded with 2640 tonnes of packed palm-oil in covered wagons, fetched an earning of Rs.38,55,536 for railways. 

The Business Development Unit (BDU) commenced functioning at Divisional Level as per Railway Board guidelines and is expected to facilitate new proposals for loading so as to increase volume and earnings in the freight segment. 

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Palakkad Division Shri Pratap Singh Shami established the Business Development Unit and it shall work under the supervision of Additional DRM Dr. C. T. Sakkeer Hussain with Senior Divisional Operations Manager, Shri P. L. Ashok Kumar, as Convenor.  The BDU committee also consist of Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer Shri K. V. Sundaresan and Senior Divisional Finance Manager Shri A. P. Sivachander and Shri Jerin. G. Anand, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager.

With the aim of capturing new streams of traffic, railway officials held regular interactions with industries in Baikampady industrial area adjacent to Panamburu goods shed and New Mangalore port.  The proposal for loading packaged palm oil ‘Raag Gold’ of Adani Wilmar, refined at Baikampady industrial area was the first proposal formulated by the committee and sent to the zonal level. Railways is gearing up to handle more transport from Panamburu area to various destinations in the country. 

                                                              B.Guganesan

                                               Chief Public Relations Officer