Working for a Good Change :)

It all started with Greenpeace India's tweet asking ideas to tackle various non-ecofriendly issues.

As the regular readers of my blog know, I travel a lot by train and some of the posts in this blog are about my experiences during train journeys. There's something that used to worry me always. You would have noticed people throwing away wastes through the windows and doors of trains. Here “people” refer to you and me. Admit it, most of us love littering in rivers; even now some of us do that! Sitting inside the moving train, my sister and I used to wait for rivers to throw away the coffee cups, bottles and paper plates into it! Please note that I’m talking about what I used to do some 10 years back; now I don’t. But, thinking of that stupid idea makes me feel so ashamed and disgraced now.

We throw away plastic bottles, carry bags, wrappers, food remnants, disposable cups & plates and every other possible waste through the windows of the train coaches. It may seem to be very silly thing but it adversely affects the environment. Have you ever noticed how polluted the surroundings of railway lines are; especially the water bodies nearby? Even well-educated people litter without a second thought! I always ask my friends and relatives (and sometimes strangers too) to avoid this act and dispose waste only in dustbins. Well, some people listen to it, at least for the sake of formality. But mostly these talks lead to debate and I end up being labelled as “DUSTBIN” who collects waste and doesn’t throw them away until I find proper means for disposal! This is how even small acts to serve and save Mother Nature are discouraged knowingly or unknowingly. The blame doesn’t lie solely on the people.

The problems faced here can be listed as follows

• Only AC coaches and a few sleeper coaches are provided with waste bins
•  Many of the available ones are found to be teemed with waste
•  Lack of enough staff for cleaning activities
•  Inadequate coordination and understanding between multiple departments of Indian Railways (IR) leading to ineffective cleanliness efforts
•  Absence of proper monitoring of cleaning activities
•  Deficient waste collection and disposal mechanisms
•  Ignorance and indifferent attitude of people towards keeping the environment clean
•  General apathy of the authorities when dealing with hygiene and sanitation

Solid waste (consisting mainly of paper and plastic) generated each day by train passengers across our country is a very huge. They can be divided into
biodegradable (leftover food), slowly degradable (disposable cups, plates,
newspapers) and non-biodegradable (mineral water bottles, carry bags) waste
materials, most of which can be recycled and reused. It is unfortunate that,
despite being the second largest railway network in Asia and the largest public
sector undertaking in our country, IR doesn’t have an environment-friendly
policy yet. Surprisingly, IR is also devoid of a department dedicated to take care
of cleanliness and sanitation activities.
During a Facebook discussion on this topic, someone shared his relative’s
experience on train. The trash in their compartment was teemed with waste.
When they brought this to the attention of TTE, he advised them to throw away
the waste through the window/door instead of complaining about the trash.
A friend of mine commented like this “If at all the IR sets up dustbins in every
coach, these will go missing very soon. Who knows a national mafia network
that stoles dustbins from trains may grow up gradually! This is Incredible
India!” He was just joking. But sadly, the probability of occurrence of
something like that is very high in our nation.
To bring a change to this pathetic situation the first thing to be changed is our
attitude. We constantly complain about the Indian system, but don’t realize that
this system is made of people like you and me! If each one of us pledges to keep
our surroundings clean, it would be a big leap towards cleaner India.
Other things that can be done are

•  Provide dustbins in every train coach.
•  Employ enough staff for cleaning activities
•  Ensure that these activities are properly coordinated and monitored
•  Develop an efficient system for proper waste management and treatment
•  Install boards everywhere possible indicating not to litter

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, it all started with Greenpeace India's
(@greenpeaceindia) tweet asking ideas to tackle various non-ecofriendly issues.
I had replied with the suggestion to provide dustbins in every train coach. The
idea was welcomed by them and they provided with all help to start a
petition on that issue, titled PROVIDE DUSTBINS IN EVERY TRAIN COACH. But, when I completed this post, I felt the petition should be
modified and more things should be included in it.

Dear readers,
If you haven't signed the petition yet, please show your support by signing it:
PROVIDE DUSTBINS IN EVERY TRAIN COACH
And please share it with maximum people :)
Thank you for your constant support...
Let's work together for cleaner, greener Indian Railways :)

These are the links to Greenpeace India's
Website
Facebook page
Twitter Profile

Reference Links: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_railways-need-another-dept-to-tackle-solid-waste-management-iim-ahmedabad_1549207
http://www.cag.gov.in/html/reports/railways/2007_6_peraud/chap_2.pdf
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/12913

This post was submitted under ISB iDiya for IndiChange in Indiblogger.
http://www.isb.edu/idiya/