Take all factors into account when building infra

Authorities also have to remember we are heading into monsoon season soon, so we do need to ensure clean surroundings to ward off diseases

Wading through leaky toilets, dust, an uneven, muddy road and illegally parked trucks, the less said and read the better about the access road to one of Western Railway’s youngest stations, Ram Mandir Road. The station was opened in 2016 and has been upgraded. Yet, commuters complained about difficulties accessing the south-east end of the station. 

Several commuters complained to mid-day about water leakage from makeshift toilets along the way, and while authorities made assurances that all these woes would end soon, and the station access area would be cleaned up, they offered no specific timeline for this clean-up operation. One also cannot fathom that while the station has been upgraded through the nine years of its existence, officials have looked the other way when it came to the surrounding areas.

We need to look at the stations as a station complex. Different agencies have to come together to treat the area as a whole, rather than operate in a piecemeal manner. Access and exit points should serve their respective purposes. Commuters need ease, cleanliness and organisation while approaching the stations and along the paths leading out too.

When a station is made, all these factors have to be taken into account, including the nature of its vicinity. A commuter’s journey begins with access to the station. It ends after he or she has exited the station area. This is typical of our urban problems: new structures are made, but little attention is paid to access points or the immediate surroundings.

Authorities also have to remember we are heading into monsoon season soon, so we do need to ensure clean surroundings to ward off diseases. Co-ordination, will and synchronisation will ensure that commuters have hygienic access to the station.  

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