Ambala passengers have no hopes from Mamata Di

AMBALA: As the final countdown for 2011-12 Railway budget begins, thousands of rail commuters here are waiting to see if it will spell any good for them. Going by past records, there is a huge gap between the announcements made in rail budgets and their implementation in stations falling under the office of divisional railways manager (DRM), Ambala division.
In the last budget, Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had said Ambala station will be upgraded to world class status.However, passengers allege that instead of beginning any renovation work for making it `world class`, ever since the announcement even minor repairs are not being carried out at the station that has a daily footfall of over one lakh people.
"Such large scale proposal takes time and these are practical aspects. We know there are certain things which need to change immediately for the convenience of commuters but we cannot construct anything because all these structures will have to be demolished when the renovation will start according to world-class station plan," said PK Sanghi, DRM Ambala railway.
Some other unfulfilled announcements made by Mamata di and her predecessors for Ambala station include a bottling plant for Rail Neer, special drinking water kiosks, cafeterias, multi-level parking and more platforms. Passengers defecating at various places, litter spilled over the railway lines and platform, stench emanating from platforms and passengers running from one place to other to book tickets is a routine affair here.
Meanwhile, speaking to TOI, the staff on ticketing duty rued the increased work pressure due to staff shortage and inadequate number of booking and cancellation centres on this railway station.
"We have in fact given up the hope of this station being improved. If Railway ministry fails to do anything this time we will approach Haryana government to pitch in,`` said Puran Parkash, a local entrepreneur. Another commuter, Atul Yadav, who is working at Government College Ambala, said, "Why is the public being harassed in the name of world class status? There is no work on ground to reduce the rush of passenger trains via Ambala. All proposals remain on papers."
Catering to the freight needs of entrepreneurs from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (Baddi Barotiwala, Nahan Paonta industries), the previous budgets have failed to impress industrialist here. They are watching closely to see if it will be any better this time.