Pandemic washes out railways' plans for new, mechanised laundries

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 wont be much to wash and clean The Indian Railways has asked all zones to slow down the process of setting up new multicrore mechanised laundriesIn Mumbai such mechanised laundries have been set up at Grant Road Wadibunder yard and LTT Kurla washing over 10000 bedrolls per day These existing ones or the ones already being constructed are unlikely to be affectedCancel Letter of AcceptanceThe 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 saidThe 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 railwaysThe 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 maintenanceoptimum health of the machinesProcess of washingThe setting up of such stateofthe art laundries had been expedited on Indian Railways across the country after the Comptroller amp 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 etcThe 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 periodIn 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 Railways chief public relations officer said WR officials did not respond for commentsKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news