Foundation, which has already beautified Matunga station, to start project on January 16
Look at the two pictures. That's how Borivli and Khar Road stations will be Making a Difference (MAD). For one, climbing the stairs will be a 3D experience now on.
The MAD Foundation plans to mobilise 500 volunteers to colour 30 staircases at the Borivli railway station and seven at Khar, as well as to beautify 54 pillars on the platform at Borivli and 12 at Khar. This will be even grander than its October experiment at Matunga railway station. Borivli and Khar stations will also see mural paintings at booking windows. According to MAD Foundation members, the highlight in Borivli will be the colourful staircases. A 3D paint scheme for select staircases is in the offing. "There are metal pillars supporting the roof on platforms, and we have decided to give them a colourful scheme, too. We will be beautifying the booking offices with murals and even the empty metal plates up on foot overbridges will sport an artistic look," said Dakshesh Shah, who is co-ordinating the project that is estimated to cost around Rs 10-12 lakh.
"The idea is also to lighten the mood of commuters. We want commuters to have a feeling of ownership, so that they stop littering the stations as well as persuade others from doing so. We are looking at contributions from corporate houses, and our volunteers are also reaching out to residential colonies across Borivli to seek help," said Haresh Shah, the 47-year-old teacher and Matunga resident, who is the secretary of the Foundation.
The Foundation has been holding meetings and group discussions to make the project a success. "At Matunga, a majority of volunteers were from Kandivli and Borivli. Most of them felt that we should take up one of those stations. We also added Khar and received permission from Western Railways on December 2," said Shah. The plan is to start work on January 16 and hand over the beautified stations to the Railways on January 26.
Institute of Chemical and Technology (ICT) volunteers are taking care of the Khar station project.
Since the scope of work is large, lot of time will have to be spent on ideation and planning. Already, 200-odd volunteers have joined. "We will be forming 10-15 teams, with 15 members each, headed by an architect or artist. Every team will be assigned a specific role, like painting of stairs and pillars and putting up murals, so that by the end of one week, everything will be ready,"said Dharmesh, joint secretary.
Divisional Railway Manager Shailendra Kumar praised the work of the Foundation. "The group has done excellent work, without expecting anything from the Railways at Matunga. We are sure that they will do good work at Khar and Borivli, too. We have offered all cooperation," he said.
PLAN FOR BORIVLI
30 staircases to get colourful painting. A few will get 3D paint scheme
54 pillars across all platforms to be colour coated
20 murals for entire station
5 booking windows will be beautified with murals
4 bridges will sport artistic works
Plantation will be carried out on East as well as West side
Illumination with LED lights for a few staircases
PLAN FOR KHAR
7 staircases to be get colourful painting and a few will get 3D paint scheme
12 pillars across all the platforms will be colour-coated
1 booking window will be beautified with murals
10 murals for the entire station
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