The Margao Konkan Railway Station has been waiting for its long overdue and necessary renovations for several years now. The Station is the one and only station in Goa which is big in size and also on passenger handling. The footfall of tourists here is at par with Goa’s airport. However, basic facilities like developed parking spots, comprehensive and friendly transport system, cleanliness beyond the premises has always been an issue.

The Margao Railway Station plays a major role of a junction on the Konkan Railway route. Through the Railroad, Margao connects to the entire country and its important towns. The Margao Railway Station may have won awards for cleanliness within the premises but it lacks on the issues of proper parking, sanitation and mostly on crime and related menace. The Margao Rly Stn has been in news for being a booze smuggling hub for long time. Herald has successfully exposed these attempts. The raids and seizures of the Excise are a mirror to the facts on what is happening here all year round.

The station is facing the problem of unknown persons, hawkers, rag pickers merrily enjoying, living and cooking within the premises for quite some time. Some labourers doing odd jobs at the station also live in the premises. This picture goes against the junction for promotion of tourism.

Looking around one can see that there is a ticket counter at the entrance but there is no seating facility. There are over 100 people in this ticket room waiting in line during any given time during the day. In addition to that a cabin filled with scraps welcomes tourists.

An NGO had earlier cleaned up the outer perimeter of the Railway Stn after a day’s work. However, due to absence of dustbins and a cleaning system the station from inside and outside was restored to its filthy state within hours.

The problems lie in the management of sewage generated from the establishments within the Railway premises.

There are several places from where sewage has been flowing and faeces from the hotel are getting released in the open. The scene at the railway station is very pathetic. Sewage is being released in open. Some soakpits and septic tanks are overflowing and it is the message of filth and dirt conveyed indirectly to the tourists coming to Goa.

A tourist from Mumbai Shridhar Sharma said, “The metal detectors at the entrance don’t work properly. Since I am a frequent traveller I have also seen police chasing robbers and miscreants here. I have not seen any major changes in the station other than the addition of the escalator. Drunkards lying on platforms, tracks filled with garbage, flimsy security arrangements are the order of the day here."

Taxi operator Guru Gaonka, said, "The station sees so many small and big crimes daily. It has become a hub of illegalities. So many open ends of the station perimeter have become doors for the illegal trades to prosper and are not being dealt with at all."

The Deputy General Manager of Public Relations of Konkan Railway, Baban Ghatge, said "Renewing the station all at a time may not be possible due to the amount of tourists occupying the premises all day and all night. However, the Konkan Railway is doing its best hasten the work smooth without any hassle or delay. By the time we reach to all the old facilities for renovation the earlier repaired get old. Hence there is little we can do. But our staff is doing the best job in terms of reaching all the facilities of platform 1 to other platforms and also keep security as our first priority."