The railways has engaged a new private agency, which will deploy an army of over 100 workers, to ensure the cleanliness of Tatanagar station.

Senior divisional commercial manager of Chakradharpur division of South Eastern railway (SRE) Satyam Prakash said that the Raipur-based agency, Pahal Shyam Seva Sansthan, had been appointed on contract for three years for around Rs 5 crore.

"The cleanliness contract is an integrated contract covering the entire station, which includes the entire geographical area of the station like tracks, platforms, concourse, approach road, parking area, etc. The private agency will also look after rodent control and solid waste management," he told The Telegraph.

Prakash, who is also railway spokesperson, said the agency would use latest equipments, including scrubber dryers, heavy jets and vacuum cleaners, for ensuring the station was clean 24x7.

"Steam cleaners would also be used to remove stains from floors, walls, wash-basins, urinals, etc. Bio-enzyme products would be used to kill foul odour in urinals and in the concrete aprons on tracks," said Ajit Kumar, a local representative of the agency.

According to Kumar, as many as 125 workers would be pressed into service everyday for cleaning activities. "The workers would be engaged in three shifts," he said, adding they would begin work in a full-fledged manner from Tuesday.

Railway personnel will monitor the activities of the agency by maintaining a daily record of cleanliness on platforms and on the station as a whole.

So far, the cleanliness and upkeep of Tatanagar station was looked after by a local agency, M B Services, which was short on manpower - only 50 people were used - and equipment.

Tatanagar is the only A-1 category railway station under the Chakradharpur division. As per latest figures, the station serves 60,000 passengers everyday, making it one of the busiest under South Eastern Railway. About 90 mail, express and passenger trains originate and run via Tatanagar.