New Delhi: Indian Railways plans to take the airlines route to ensure cleanliness on-board. Now just like flight attendants come and collect trash from passengers after meals, India Railways plans to introduce the same practice to keep trains clean. This was confirmed by Railway Board Chairman, Ashwani Lohani in a meeting with division level officers and board members, on July 17. In this latest move towards Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat, railway catering staff will collect waste after meals in all trains.
Explaining how this will happen, PTI quoted an official saying,
Under this system, the pantry staff, just like airlines, will carry a bag to every passenger who can put their trays, plates or any other trash in it.
Giving reason behind the move, an official said,
Meal plates are usually kept under the seats by passengers after eating and the pantry staff takes away those by stacking one on top of the other. Sometimes the leftover contents spill and fall on the floor of the coaches. Also, passengers keep sundry items like banana peels, packets and other such things on the berths or on the floor, as quoted by PTI.
The move will also be implemented in trains without pantry. In that case, on-board housekeeping staff will be made responsible for collecting waste. To regularise waste collection, trash bags will be included in regular contracts with caterers, said Mr. Lohani.
To tackle its waste generation, many green practices have also been adopted by the Railways like introducing disposable, eco-friendly hand towels and pillow covers made of biodegradable cotton. The Indian Railways has also replaced plastic/polymer plates with the eco-friendly disposable plates made of bagasse. From introducing bio-toilets, and modernising its toilets with auto janitor system to automatically clean and deodrise toilets, to creating green corridors, which ensure zero toilet discharge on tracks, Indian Railways has been steadily working towards its Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat mission.
Also Read: Indian Railways Will Have 100 Percent Bio-Toilets By 2019, Says Union Minister Piyush Goyal
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
