BHUBANESWAR: Railway stations and trains plying through the State will be free from single-use plastic from October 2. East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to enforce the ban on plastic use in railway premises within its jurisdiction from Gandhi Jayanti. ECoR General Manager Vidya Bhushan said awareness campaigns have been intensified and people are being discouraged for use of plastic in railway premises in view of its harmful effect on environment.
“Materials made of plastic are not degradable and also not easy to recycle. We have been encouraging vendors to avoid use of plastic carry bags. Similarly, employees have been asked to reduce, reuse and refuse plastic products to reduce plastic usages,” he said.
The move comes as a part of the nation-wide ban on plastic use, to be enforced by the Indian Railways. While 16 plastic bottle crushing machines have been placed at different railway stations in the zone, 16 more machines will be installed soon. Visakhapatnam station has six machines followed by four at Cuttack, two each at Bhubaneswar and Puri and one each at Sambalpur and Khurda Road stations.
There are proposals to install crushing machines at Rayagada, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Simhachalam, Araku, Jagadalpur, Balangir, Titilagarh and Kesinga besides four more at Puri and two at Khurda Road.
This apart, Indian Railways has taken green initiatives including generation of electricity from solar and wind energy, installation of environment-friendly bio-toilets in passenger coaches, use of LED lights, water recycling plants and rain water harvesting systems.