With dera support, Beas shows the way
JALANDHAR: With only four sanitation workers, the Beas railway station, situated on the Jalandhar-Amritsar section of the Ferozepur division, has bagged the award for the cleanest railway station (A category) in the country for the second time in a row.
Being in close proximity to the Radha Soami Satsang, it serves as the main transit point for dera followers coming from across the country.
The station is largely maintained by dera followers, right from cleaning platforms to maintaining the circulation area and parks. An official said around 30 dera followers, mostly women, start cleaning platforms and others areas of the station at 4.30am. The exercise is repeated in the evening too. “We also make regular announcement at the stations asking people to maintain cleanliness,” said the official.
Having two platforms, the station has a daily footfall of 10,000 passengers. “Except the Durgiana Express and Nagpur-Amritsar
weekly, all the major trains halt in Beas,” said the official.
During special occasions at the dera, the station receives a footfall of over two lakh passengers and it makes it difficult for the railways staff to manage things.
The authorities are planning to outsource the cleanliness work to a private company.