Paan & Gutkha Stains, Broke Escalator At Borivali Station; Here's What Railway Sewa Reacts

Do citizens here enjoy eating paan and gutkha? The blood-like stains of such substances is spotted on every nook and corner of streets in Mumbai including railway stations. A user posted a photo of the Borivali station on the western railway (WR) on X (formerly Twitter) which has gone viral on social media. Railway Sewa replied on the post and assured that an appropriate action would be taken.

The photo highlights the need for improvement in the condition of the Borivali railway station and the condition of local railway trains in the city. The escalator appears to not be in operating condition as passengers are seen climbing up it in the picture. The walls surrounding the escalator are covered in stains from people spitting paan and gutkha.

The user @mumbaimatters posted, "This is really pathetic. The Borivali East (Virar End) Escalator is shut almost every other day… & its surroundings are coated with Pan Gutkha Stains..@drmbct @RailMinIndia @WesternRly Has anyone ever been nabbed for spitting inside railway station premises?"

Reacting to this, the Railway Sewa replied in the comment section of X, "We request you to please share Mobile No. with us preferably via DM so that immediate action can be taken on your complaint. You may also raise your concern directly on http://railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in or dial 139 for speedy redressal."

Needless to say, enraged Internet users react by blaming authorities for doing nothing. Some users believed that here citizens and authorities are overlooking the fact that passengers' careless civic activity also contributes to walls becoming soiled. The question arises is why do people spit in the first place in the public is a significant one, even though there are laws to punish offenders. Is any action being taken against such violators to curb the menace?

In 2021, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) collected INR 33 lakh in fines from individuals who spit in public areas throughout a 10-month period. The data indicates that 16,659 persons were penalised for the same offence by clean-up marshals assigned by the BMC. Since then the authorities decided that if someone is caught spitting in a public location, they will be fined INR 200 by the civic authority. According to information provided by the civic authority, out of 2,888 cases, the L ward (Kurla, Sakinaka) recovered the maximum penalty of INR 5.59 lakh, while the A ward (CSMT, Churchgate, Fort) and P north (Malad) wards recovered INR 3.89 lakh and INR 3.40 lakh, respectively.