Secunderabad Railway Station Ranked Third Most Beautiful Station in India

Hyderabad May 27: Leaving behind 'paan' stained walls and stinking platforms, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Secundrabad railway station has expressed happiness on winning the third prize for the beautification of station premises.

Hyderabad's Secundrabad railway station has been ranked the third most beautiful station at all India level for its attractive paintings and structures on various platforms.

Speaking to ANI, CPRO Uma Shankar said "Secundrabad station got 3rd in the beautification of stations at all India level. If you go there you can witness the beautiful paintings on platform number 1 and 10."

The paintings here reflect the local art and culture. The idea behind it was for the passengers coming from different parts of the country to understand the art forms and traditions of the state.

"Secundrabad station serves three lakh passengers every day. Beautification is one of the main objectives for us. We are trying to beautify the entire station premises so that those passing through the station will have the feel of local art and culture," said Shankar.

Keeping modernity and traditionality in mind, the team has brought together local artists to build structures depicting local culture and festivals at Vijayawada, Ananthapuram, Dharmavaram, Eluru Railway stations.

"It is a wonderful initiative done by the railways as it depicts the culture and traditions of Telangana. We can see the Sankranthi festival, Harvest and also Bathukamma festival which are the traditions of Telangana, which everybody should know," said Hrishikesh a passenger.

He further said, "One thing I would ask them is to put names of the artist and the art form at the bottom to make it clearer."

"Under Prime Minister Modi's Government, we are developing a good pace, with growth in infrastructure. The Cheriyala painting depicts the Telangana culture and it is really good to see the modification of railway stations," said Vedhanth, a student.

"The paintings look pleasant instead of the old pan stains, all these painting pings a good lively nature to the railway stations. It makes the passengers feel comfortable," he added.

In order to promote cleanliness with creativity, the Ministry of Railways had invited nominations across all Zonal Railways for stations where beautification has been done with the participation of local artists. The evaluation committee consisting of the Executive Director (Station development), Chief Commercial Manager (systems) of South Central Railway, Executive director (Tourism) and an official from the Northeast Frontier Railway set up to review 62 entries received from 11 Zonal Railways.

Out of 62 entries, Balharshah and Chandrapur (Central Railway) bagged first prize; Madhubani (East Central Railway) and Madurai (Southern Railway) was adjudged second while Gandhidham (Western Railway) Kota (West Central Railway) shared third Prize with Secunderabad (South Central Railway).