A Glimpse into Central Railway’s initiatives towards Pollution Control

A Glimpse into Central Railway’s initiatives towards Pollution Control

nd 2 Dec 1984….A Black Letter Day

National Pollution Control Day •National Pollution Control Day is observed every year on 2nd December. It is observed in the memory of those who lost their lives in the Bhopal Gas tragedy on night of nd 2 -3 rd December, 1984. •The main objective is to make people aware of the effects of pollution, spread awareness in the industries that cause various pollution like water, air, soil, noise and affect the environment.

Central Railway’s Initiatives towards Pollution Control



• Railway transportation is one of the most fuel efficient, safest and cheapest transport. • New Lines: Total 188 Kms completed in last 4 Yrs over CR. Resulting in reduction in usage of road transport and reduction in air pollution. ❖ Amravati – Narkhed : 138 km ❖ Ahmednagar – Narayandoh : 12.275 km ❖ Lonand - Phaltan : 25.982 km New Lines ❖ Nerul – Seawood/Belapur – Kharkopar : 12 km. ❖ A total of 123.92 km Doubling of Lines also done.

• In recent past, 682 route Kms section was Electrified, resulting into drastic reduction in Diesel Oil consumption, Sound Pollution, Improvement in Punctuality and reducing traction bills. • Major electrified sections are ✓ Manmad-Daund-253 Km ✓ Walgaon-Narkhed-118Km ✓ Amla-Chindwada-115 Km ✓ Pune-Daund-78Km • 53 Pairs of Mail/ passenger trains were converted to Electric traction due to which 17.58 Lakh ltrs. of Diesel Electrification on oil consumption was reduced per month. Thus reducing the Fossil-Fuel Central Railways footprint of CR.

Increase in Suburban Services of Mumbai • Enhancement of Carrying Capacity: • 42 Services have been added in January / March 2016 • All 590 services of 9 Car were converted to 12 Car on Harbour Line in August 2016, thereby increasing the carrying capacity by 33%. • 46 services have been added in Oct 2017 • 26 Services have been added in Jan. 2018 (10 on Harbour line and 16 on Trans Harbour line). • 40 services have been added in Nov. 2018 (on Nerul-Seawood/Belapur -Kharkopar) Increased Rail Sub-Urban services would assist Vehicular Road traffic to ease & reduce, thus directly impacting Vehicular pollution.

Replacement of Conventional Passenger Rakes by DEMU and MEMU Owing to conversion of Diesel/ Electric Hauled Passenger trains to DEMU and MEMU, consumption of fuel was drastically reduced, again improving the fossil-fuel footprint. Moreover, with Multiple Unit acceleration, of DEMU/MEMU, reliability and punctuality was also improved. Locos, hence released are being utilized for augmenting freight transportation.

Head On Generation • With HOG equipped Locos & guard vans, potentially the presently deployed power-cars can be replaced with Passenger carrying coaches. • Electricity required for the Rake is drawn from the locomotive itself through Hotel Load converter. Apart from reducing pollution, caused by the diesel engine housed in power cars, the operational expenditure is reduced and earnings can be increased by carrying more passengers. There are 16 such Locos, presently available on Central Railway. • The HOG conversion has so far been completed in 09 rakes. It has resulted in savings of more than Rs. 1 Crore per month on fuel alone!!

Afforestation • All Efforts for increasing the Green Cover over CR, being taken. • Plantation along tracks, Rly Land, Premises, Platforms green areas. • About 5lakhs tree were planted on railway land and across tracks in 2018-19 itself. • A Joint MoU was signed between CR and Forest dept. of Mah. Govt. to achieve this plantation.

Gardens developed by staff at MTN W’shop CR Dr.B.R Ambedkar Garden Shalimar Garden Ashok Vatika Garden Mechanical BTC ETL Garden Proper plantation in front of Store wards

Increasing Green Cover • MTN workshop’s endeavour to minimize its Garden on Vertical wall & ecological footprints has led to development of gardens on vertical wall & pillars in Garden partition response to open space constraint.

Water Recycling Plants & Sewage Treatment Plants • There are 13 Nos. of Water Recycling Plants commissioned on Central Railway with a total capacity of 2900 KL/Day. • 1 Sewage Treatment Plant of 4 MLD capacity is functional at BSL.

Rain Water Harvesting • Rain Water Harvesting has been provided at 2 locations in Mumbai division, 23 locations in Pune division, 89 locations in Solapur division, 21 locations in Bhusawal division and 60 locations in Nagpur division, over CR. • RWH is not only helping in increasing the ground water level, but also reduction in water consumption from external sources.

Green Energy • Solar panels installed at 28 Locations • Wind + Solar energy installed at 8 locations and Standalone solar installed at 953 locations. Together these harnessed a total 1016 KW of renewable energy. • One Megawatt capacity Solar Power Plant has been commissioned at Sanpada EMU Car shed in August’2018. • So far, power plant of 1.934 Megawatt have been provided, over CR.

Fitment of Bio-Toilet on Coaches • So far 12,000 Bio-Toilets have already been provided on 3250 coaches i.e. 70% of coaches have been equipped with Bio-Toilets which have reduced pollution of railway tracks and station area. • CR is committed to provide Bio-Toilets on our entire coaching fleet by June 2019.

• Chalisgaon-Dhulia section of Bhusawal Division was declared Green corridor in Sept-2017. • DAUND-BARAMATI of Pune Division was Green declared Green corridor in Feb-2018. • In these sections all the operational trains Corridors are equipped with Bio-Toilets. on Central Railway

Use of Alternative fuels • MTN workshop has CNG started use of Natural Gas for metal plate cutting in place of LPG Gas in HCR shop. It is more cost effective & Use environment friendly in comparison to the earlier used LPG.

Encouraging use of E-friendly products: • To encourage use of e- friendly products, PCME office has as an initiative used Recycled Plastic Crib Sheet, made after shredding of waste plastic, in a variety of applications. • Coach Toilets were refurbished , Furniture items, dustbins, Notice Boards, Benches & even picture frames …..

Reducing Vehicular Pollution & Waste Composting • All Vehicles inside MTN wshop have been fitted with Catalytic Converter to reduce the exhaust emission of particulate Carbon. • For Waste Composting a Compost pit, utilized for composting organic waste from shop canteen has been built & is being utilized.

Water Vending Machines • 196 water vending machines have been commissioned at 92 stations where good quality of potable RO water is being dispensed to passengers at reasonable cost. • This has reduced use of Plastic Bottles there by reducing Plastic Waste.

Provision of Plastic Bottle Crushing Machines • Installed, so far at 9 locations in CR. • Generated Plastic waste is shredded & sent for recycling. • More such machines planned to be installed.

Waste Management: Sanitary Napkin Dispenser and Incinerator • Sanitary Napkin Dispensers have been provided at 05 stations of Bhusawal division, Solapur division and Pune division. • Incinerators have been provided at 04 station in Bhusawal division, Solapur division and Pune. • These are assisting in efficient waste management.

Compiled by EnHM Wing, PCME office, CR to mark nd “National Pollution Day” (2 Dec’2018). With Continued support, guidance & encouragement of Sh. D. K. Sharma General Manager, Central Railway.