Keeping locals free of paan, gutkha stains tough until commuters cooperate: Railways

The railways spends around Rs5 crore every year to clean its suburban rakes of paan and gutkha stains, but its officials say it is a losing battle till they get support from the commuters themselves.

State government's ban on gutkha about a year ago has been a mixed bag, say officials, with a section believing it has not made much of a difference as far as stains on their rakes are concerned. According to figures made available to dna, Central Railway spent Rs3 crore to clean up its 120 rakes, while Western Railway spent Rs2 crore for its 94 rakes.

The stations are another disaster. The base of most pillars as well as the areas around the landing of foot overbridges have turned the colour of rust because of the stains, admit officials.

The decision taken in September, to give a wider range of railway employees the power to fine people caught littering at stations hasn't helped much either.

The circular gave even non-gazetted personnel like ticket-checkers the right to fine commuters Rs500, against the earlier upper limit of Rs100, for littering. The earlier rule was that only gazetted railway officials — Class I and II officials — could fine. The earlier rule allowed a TC to fine a person Rs500 only if he was accompanied by a gazetted railway official.

Speaking to dna, divisional railway manager Shailendra Kumar said, "There has been a reduction in stains after the ban on gutkha. People being fined for littering and spitting is also why local trains are relatively less stained here than elsewhere in the country. But if commuters cooperate, the level of cleanliness can be taken higher."

Other officials, however, have a different take. According to them, the habitual gutkha eater is still getting his fix from paan shops that dot the city, and these people continue to chew gutkha and spit.

Ironically, as some officials pointed out, the only defence against spitting in trains is the sheer number of commuters. "If the footboard of a train is crowded the way it is during peak hours, the chance of someone spitting out is minimal for fear that the spittle might fall on passengers standing near the door in the following coach," said an official.

"It is an uphill task because for a lot of people spitting is now a habit. The other problem is that the white-and-purple paint scheme of the new Siemens locals makes the stains stand out all the more," said a senior railway official.