Kochi: Thiruvananthapuram division has been awarded with the 'Inter-divisional cleanliness shield' for the financial year 2018-19 after it bagged maximum points for clean stations in the Southern railway zone.The railways earlier set up two zonal level committees for selecting the best maintained one from among the six divisions including Palakkad, Madurai, Chennai, Tiruchirappalli and Salem.
"The committees evaluated cleanliness of A-1, A and B category stations and that of C, D and E category ones separately. Factors such as cleanliness, maintenance, visual appeal, infrastructure upkeep and space utilisation were analysed," said a senior railway official.
"The inter-divisional Cleanliness shield is awarded to the Thiruvananthapuram division which has received the highest pints for the financial year 2018-19. A cash award of Rs 5000 and the shield will be handed over to the Divisional Railway Manager and the Senior Personnel Officer in due course," said a note issued by the Deputy Chief Commercial Manager, Chennai Headquarters.
While a special campaign was initiated for upkeep of all stations in the division, the divisional authorities also took steps for decorating stations such as Thrissur, Aluva and Ernakulam Town with three-dimensional paintings and drawing and enhance their aesthetic look.
The Aluva station received special mention for setting up a vertical garden using waste plastic bottles thrown out by passengers.
Earlier, two trains from Thiruvananthapuram division featured among the top ranks in the 'Train Cleanliness Survey-2018' conducted by the Indian Railway Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
While KSR Bangaluru - Ernakulam bagged first position in the 'Other than premium Intercity' category trains, the Trivandrum - Kozhikode Janshatabdi won the second position in the Jan Shatabdi front.
A total of 209 key trains were included in the three-part survey including Process Audit, Direct Observation and Passenger Feedback to assess the cleanliness and sanitation condition of running trains.
