Sadananda Gowda gives rail clean-up efforts a funding boost
The railway budget proposes to outsource cleaning activities at 50 major stations to professional agencies
New Delhi: Trains and railway stations are set to become greener and cleaner, following a 40% rise in the budget allocation for cleanliness over last year’s amount and a planned increase in the number of bio-toilets.
The railway budget proposed to outsource cleaning activities at 50 major stations to professional agencies and a separate housekeeping wing with exclusive responsibility to maintain cleanliness and sanitation at stations.
“I am aware of the sorry state of affairs of cleanliness in the trains and stations. Railways have been attaching high priority to cleanliness, but it has always been a challenge to maintain the acceptable level of cleanliness owing to the sheer number of passengers handled at the stations," said minister Sadananda Gowda. The minister also proposed to put up closed-circuit television cameras at stations to monitor cleaning up activities and a complaints helpline whose number will be printed on the back of train tickets.
Non-governmental organizations, charitable institutions and corporate houses will also be encouraged to adopt and maintain stations for better cleanliness and upkeep.
The number of bio-toilets, which convert human waste into water and gases, will be increased in trains in order to deal with the problem of direct discharge of human waste on tracks and platform aprons at stations, which tend to speed up the corrosion of railway tracks. Bio-toilets were developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with the Research Designs & Standards Organisation of the Railways.
A government panel said in 2012 that defecation in trains has serious implications arising from the corrosion of rail tracks and related hardware as well as poor maintenance of undercarriage equipment due to unhygienic conditions. The committee recommended that toilets with harmless discharge be introduced in 43,000 coaches by 2017.
In an effort to increase access to clean drinking water, the railway minister said RO (reverse osmosis) units will be introduced on an experimental basis at stations and in trains. Gowda went on to propose that solar energy be harnessed by utilizing roof-top spaces at railway stations, and other railway buildings and land through public-private partnerships. He said the railways will start using bio-diesel for up to 5% of the total fuel consumption in diesel locomotives, which would make substantial savings in foreign exchange.
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