The Indian Railways’ Mahamana Express was unveiled with great fanfare for being a swanky new alternative to our typical tired, rundown and unattractive railway coaches. Many of us had seen pictures of smart enclosed basins, attractive light fittings, plush berths and décor add-ons. The train runs three times a week between New Delhi and Varanasi and was flagged off on 22nd January 2016 by the Prime Minister himself. But just days after being pressed into service the train now has broken fittings, litter, clogged sinks… a far cry from the spanking new train that it was just days ago.
Dirty Mahamana Express – new no more
These before and after pictures have been circulating on Twitter for the past couple of days:
There is trash overflowing from waste bins, chucked into basins, damaged accessories, empty water and beer bottles, wasted food and clogged drains:
There is news of water taps and toilet kits being stolen from the train as well. The litter and damage was in the general bogies as well as AC 2 and 3 tier coaches.
Apparently passengers on this train will now receive etiquette lessons and a campaign will try and educate passengers on keeping the train clean. Ticket collectors will keep vigil and counsel passengers against damaging property.
Indians need counseling not to litter and damage public property?
Railway officials said that they don’t know how to check the littering, defacing and damage. They feel helpless to rectify this attitude of wanton disregard for public property. And to be sure it is a malaise that we see on the streets, in parks, in the market; practically everywhere. As people think nothing of littering trains, they think nothing of chucking garbage out of flashy cars, spitting wherever they want, urinating in public places…. The list of transgressions by Indians as litterbugs is lamentably long.
It is just dismaying that we have to be told not to litter, have to be directed and watched over like recalcitrant children so that we will not damage, deface and misuse public property. It is dismaying that unless it is our personal property we feel no sense of responsibility towards anything. Why is it that we Indians misuse every privilege– the Mahamana Express is just one illustration – that is granted to us?
Author – Reena Daruwalla
All Images courtesy Twitter
