Mumbai, May 3: Congratulations to the most beautiful railway stations of Maharashtra! Maharashtra’s Ballarshah and Chandrapur railway stations have been adjudged winners of the Indian Railways’ in-house station beautification contest, a statement from the Railway Ministry said.
The Nagpur Division of Central Railway has beautified the two stations with paintings, sculptures and murals based on wildlife at the Tadoba National Park and local tribal art.
The second prize has gone to Bihar's Madhubani station, which features stunning artwork by local artists, and Tamil Nadu's Madurai station, which also depicts popular scenes from local culture on its walls.
The third prize has gone jointly to three stations - Gandhidham in Gujarat, Kota in Rajasthan and Secunderabad in Telangana.
The first prize winners will get Rs 10 lakh each, second prize winners Rs 5 lakh each and the third prize winners Rs 3 lakh each. A total of 62 entries from across 11 railway zones were received by the Railway Board for the best stations where beautification work had been done by local artists.
The idea behind the beautification project is to make railway stations look more inviting and attractive. In many zones, schoolchildren, local NGOs and even corporate houses came forward to paint them, donate paintings or sponsor particular sites for beautification.