Pandemic washes out railways’ plans for new, mechanised laundries

In Mumbai, such mechanised laundries have been set up at Grant Road, Wadibunder yard, and LTT, Kurla, washing over 10,000 bedrolls per day.

Pandemic washes out railways' plans for new, mechanised laundries

A mechanised laundry of Central Railway

DHO dala! The pandemic has poured cold water on the Indian Railways' laundry dreams. With no pillows and linen to be distributed in sleeper trains as freely as earlier, and with disposable items in vogue now, there won't be much to wash and clean. The Indian Railways has asked all zones to slow down the process of setting up new, multi-crore mechanised laundries.

In Mumbai, such mechanised laundries have been set up at Grant Road, Wadibunder yard, and LTT, Kurla, washing over 10,000 bedrolls per day. These existing ones or the ones already being constructed are unlikely to be affected.

'Cancel Letter of Acceptance'

"The process of setting up new mechanised laundries has now been slowed because of the pandemic. Train services are restricted, and linen is presently not being supplied. This situation is likely to continue in future. Hence the zonal railways have been advised that new contracts of mechanised laundries should not be finalised till the situation stabilises," a senior official said.

The new order, issued on Thursday by the Environment and Housekeeping Directorate, states that the zonal railways should look for cancellations of Letter of Acceptance that were issued to interested parties for laundries that were yet to be commissioned. The letter added that it was found that such letters for 21 mechanised laundries with a total capacity of around 148 Turns Per Day (times each day that laundry is washed) had been placed in different zonal railways.

The first order regarding this was issued in July 2020. It had stated that the issue should receive attention as it will not only require money and a very long or continuous shut down may not be good for maintenance/optimum health of the machines.

Process of washing

The setting up of such state-of-the art laundries had been expedited on Indian Railways across the country after the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) had slammed the railways for the hygiene standards of linen and blankets it provides to passengers. The process usually involves collection of soiled linen, washing in the mechanized laundry, packing, loading on the train, transporting of soiled and washed linen from stations to mechanized laundry, etc.

The July order had also stated that if any hospital linen (from railway hospitals) was taken for washing in the existing mechanized laundries, there was need to pay attention to proper disinfection and hygiene norms, for which railways could work out details with contractors during the period.

"In CR there are two commissioned laundries at Wadibunder and LTT, Kurla. Two laundries- Pune and Nagpur are in advanced stages of commissioning. The laundry at Solapur is at construction stage. Thus, there are no laundries at Letter of Acceptance or tendering stage in CR. Based on railway board directions, CR is exploring alternative utilisation of available laundry capacity," Central Railway's chief public relations officer said. WR officials did not respond for comments.

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