Indian Railway with records of paradox

Indian Railways - one of the largest railway networks (115,000 km) and the 8th largest employer in the world has nothing to worry about any environmental laws and  is free from the clutches of Pollution Control Board.

When people shed crocodile tears over pollution and environmental destruction, many of us turn our eyes blind towards this largest open defecation initiative in the world. Thanks to Indian Railway. The World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimate that half of Indian population still defecates in open. Also, the last Census report states that the percentage of households having access to television and telephones in rural India exceeds the percentage of households with access to toilet facilities. The economic impact of inadequate sanitation is about Rs. 2.4 trillion ($38.4 million), or 6.4 per cent of India’s gross domestic product, according to the Water and Sanitation Programme. It is an accepted fact that human excreta contains large number of germs, which cause diarrhea, Cholera, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, other water borne diseases and parasitic infections and the parasites like the Hookworm, Tapeworm, Roundworm, and Pin worm result in the wide-spread of communicable diseases.

While aware about all these facts our Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh once quoted Indian Railway as 'the world’s biggest open toilet’. Findings may be mind blogging, if we undertake a study on Indian railway and its impact on environment. Unfortunately, so far no one has dared to take this challenging job.  

Noise Pollution, Vision Pollution, and Environmental Pollution (Plastic bottles, food waste, toilet wastes etc.)  of Indian Railway should be treated in par with all other business enterprises. When all the industrial units in India require specialized mechanism to control and manage their waste, negligence of Indian railway to manage their waste is an open violation of law. Law of the land proclaims 'polluter's pay principle'; but when it comes to the matter of their own, they intentionally try to disown it.

 

The recent CAG report throws direct light in to this matter;

"Noise levels were in excess of the prescribed limit at all stations and there was no system of monitoring. No instructions had been issued by the Railway Board regarding noise control measures like erection of acoustic barriers, reduction of speed and avoiding whistling within and along the municipal limits and habitation zones".

We all are experienced the cacophony at railway stations. A few days ago, I was waiting at the Chennai Railway station where there is no control over voice, noise and announcements. Advertisements are at the peak without any regulation and railway officials strive to announce the timings of trains  without ceasing the unending and uninteresting advertisements. The mental trauma created by this terrible sound seems unacceptable and may produce severe physical and psychological consequences. 

There is no question in the fact that solutions are with us and there is no need for further explanation. Railway authorities and Politicians should show the will power to implement to for the welfare of common man.