Cleanliness takes a beating

Cleanliness takes a beating

While the network of the Delhi Metro has been expanding rapidly with new lines and stations being opened under Phase-III, the upkeep of the stations and sanitation is gradually taking a beating. While Metro stations in South and Central Delhi are still an example in urban cleanliness, many of the Metro stations in West and East Delhi look like they are straight out of a Hollywood movie on poverty-stricken India.

Take the Shadipur Metro station as an example. One entrance is from West Patel Nagar side. Cycle-rickshaws and e-rickshaws are parked along all the three roads leading up to this side. Arguments and brawls are part of the landscape. A commuter is forced to navigate through whatever space is left. After that commuters have to pass through a muddy area that is usually flooded or dug up. To top it they have to wade through a sea of drunks who have made the place their home.

Once inside the station, it is usual to see the space outside the lift area being used as a urinal or a squatting spot for beggars. People have to be on constant guard here against bag and purse snatchers.

The upside here is that you never feel lonely, what with all the rats and lizards to keep you company. The approach to the Mayur Vihar Extension Metro station is also littered with garbage. Though the station houses a retail giant, no one appears to be bothered about filth and squalor outside. While one big bin can do, it is only with the CISF personnel at the entrance that one finds a proper waste bin to drop a can or a bottle.

The electronic rickshaws are cheaper and faster and seem to be replacing the cycle-rickshaws for short distances and the auto for slightly longer distances.

However, the novelty seems to be wearing off as citizens who once took to these e-rickshaws easily have now started going back to the older modes of short-distance travel.

These reasons include the longer routes taken by the driver usually to drop the other passengers and his refusal to move unless the rickshaw is full. “One day we went through a very long route to drop off a passenger and by the time we reached the Metro I realised I had spent about twenty minutes for a five minute ride. Since then, I stopped,” said Sowmya, an office goer who takes the Patel Nagar Metro.

There are many similar stories which have encouraged citizens who are short pressed for time or patience to leave the e-rickshaws.Also, there are some who do not want to take a shared ride with strangers for company, especially after dark.

Source : The Hindu.