12 Kolkata: A railway officials' team carried out a drive to remove encroachments from the premises of Khardah station on the Sealdah-Ranaghat line on Saturday. About 50 encroachers, mostly unauthorised vendors, were removed from the station. Locals, including passengers, also joined the drive to free up occupied areas of the station premises.
About one lakh passengers, including those from Rahara Ramakrishna Mission, commute through this railway station daily, according to the railways. The drive was led by Jasram Meena, senior divisional commercial manager (DCM), Sealdah, following an instruction from the divisional railway manager (DRM), Rajeev Saxena.
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Though the booking counter on platform no. 4 had reopened a few days ago after remaining shut since 2016, passengers found it difficult to access it during peak hours because of the encroachment. That is why the special anti-encroachment drive was taken up at the station, said a railway official.
"Previously, passengers arriving from the Rahara Ramakrishna Mission side faced difficulty as they had to travel to platform no. 1 to purchase tickets. This was challenging for elderly and unwell passengers. We are also focusing on the cleanliness of the station premises," the DRM told TOI.The senior DCM said, "In the wake of persistent appeals from locals and passengers, we took the initiative to remove the encroachers from the station premises." Locals lauded the move.