Haridwar railway station ready to welcome Kanwad pilgrims

With the beginning of Kanwad mela, the railway station of Haridwar bears a new look these days with an infrastructural make over recently completed. The railway officials have made an attempt to provide facilities to the passengers in accordance to the ‘A grade’ category, given green ambiance and good night stay facility in newly constructed ‘Rain Basera’. The officials claim that before the Kumb Mela of 2021 it would be entirely like an ‘A’ category railway station.

Paintings on stairs attract the visitors from Platform number one and newly built stair bridges are all set to welcome the pilgrims to the holy city.

Speaking to The Pioneer, railway station superintendent Mahavir Singh said, “Although Kanwad pilgrims have just begun to come by trains, most coming by buses but the forthcoming week is going to witness heavy rush. Keeping this in view, we have made arrangements to facilitate the pilgrims by giving drinking water facilities through dispensers at more points. Round the clock sanitation workers are working to keep the station clean.”

Notably Ardhkumbh Mela 2016 had given some boost to the railway station earlier and now the department officials are trying to give aesthetic beauty to the premises with paintings on different platforms.

Haridwar railway station of Moradabad rail division comes under ‘A grade’ category stations of the country. In compliance to this category, all passenger facilities have been worked upon by the authorities. The escalator and lift facility has also been started on this station recently. The vehicle parking has been given a wide and systematic structural appearance. Public reservation system (PRS) and unreserved ticketing system (UTS) have been shifted from passenger hall to a place near the Mela platform. This has helped control the crowd of people who visit in lakhs every day.

Besides, attempts have been made to increase the capacity of the Class I waiting room and an overall new look has been given. Round the clock cleaning and sanitation is being maintained by the contract workers. Notably Haridwar is one of those 90 railway stations of the country marked by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for re-development.

Spotting a Kanwad pilgrim with a trident in his hand on platform number one, this correspondent sought his feedback to which he replied, “I come from Ghaziabad very year for Kanwad Mela. This time when I alighted from Shatabdi, it was a whole new experience of holiness and cleanliness. Religious messages and decorative paintings on stair case is really soothing to the eyes.”

The railway station superintendent Mahavir Singh said, “We are maintaining the cleanliness at the railway station and 132 workers have been deployed for the same. Facilities like escalator and lift are operational. The tiling work on platform number one has been completed. The taps have been changed in drinking water section. The beautification of the platform is still underway and newly built guest house is open for the tourists on pre-booking.”