Mumbai Helpline and Clean Mumbai Foundation have undertaken a campaign to have spotlessly clean railway stations within the Mumbai Suburban Railway System within the next 3 years.

A system which is used by 7 million people daily should have stations which are clean and well maintained. Instead we see that our railway stations are used as spittoons, dustbins and open bathrooms.

Millions of employees are using these stations on a daily basis to reach office and then back to their residences. The quality and cleanliness of these stations has a bearing on the productivity and overall moral of the people traveling on the system.

We feel the situation needs to change and have accordingly planned a year long campaign to carry out actual cleanliness and cleanliness campaigns towards changing the behavior of the people who are dirtying the stations.

We have been in communication with the Railway authorities along the Western and Central line and they have shown a lot of enthusiasm to be a part of the campaign. We are now reaching out to several other stakeholders who stand to directly gain from having clean railway stations. Accordingly we are reaching out to College students, Corporates, other NGOs and motivated citizens.

The inauguration program took place on 24th – 26th January 2007 at some select stations. The following activities were carried out as Phase I of the Campaign.

• Day 1. Saturday 25th January ; Time: 4pm to 6:30pm
  Performances of street plays by college students highlighting No Spitting & Littering with the help of film stars & T.V. artists.

• Day 2. Sunday 26th January ; Time: 1pm – 5pm
  Railway platforms were washed by the railway cleaning staff under the supervision of students & the Station Master.
  This activity made people aware of the hard work done by the railway staff.

• Day 3. Monday 27th January ; Time: 4pm to 6:30pm
  Providing badges on cleanliness to commuters. “I Clean, You Clean, We Clean”

• Day 4. Tuesday 28th January ; Time: 4pm to 6:30pm
  Installation of dustbins and spittoons at the railway station by railway authority so as to spread the message of segregation of litter.

• Day 5. Thursday 29th January ; Time: 4pm to 6:30pm
  Closing ceremony at station spreading the message of keeping our station clean.

The program will continue in the future as part of the Corporate Ward Adoption Program where by the objective will be to develop a sustainable long term system for ensuring cleanliness of the stations. We envisage formation of Railway Station Committees which will comprise of the Station Master, one corporate sponsor, 2-3 colleges, local NGOs and concerned commuters. This committee will then meet on a regular basis and actively identify and resolve issues.

Send us an email telling us something about yourself and how you feel you can be involved with the project to make our railway stations clean and beautiful.

We are already in touch with a number of colleges and Corporates. You can contact us for more details.

See who is a part of the campaign