VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada railway station has bagged the prestigious ISO 14001:2015 certification for a period of three years from December 2 to December 1, 2022 for implementing an efficient environmental management system. A two stage audit was conducted at the station in November as part of the procedure for issuing the certification.
The audit teams have suggested few improvements to the railway officials. To maintain validity of the certification for the next three years, two surveillance audits will be conducted in 2020 and 2021.
Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed Indian Railways to identify 36 stations which can be developed as eco-smart stations. Accordingly, the South Central Railway (SCR) identified three stations within its zone- Secunderabad, Kacheguda and Vijayawada. The NGT has laid down norms for achieving environment standard certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for the selected railway stations as soon as possible.
These stations have to comply to 10 major parameters with respect to ‘ISO-14001’ certification. They include cleanliness at stations, disposal of solid waste, providing pet bottle crusher machines, taking up anti-littering activities, water management, preventing defecation along railway tracks, removal of encroachments, energy management, afforestation and plantation.
Earlier this year in March, the Vijayawada railway station was designated a ‘Green Railway Station’ and received a ‘Gold Rating’ from CII-IGBC. The station has also achieved fourth rank, three years in a row in the Swachhta survey conducted by Quality Council of India (QCI) 2017 onwards.
"Achieving ISO 14001 certification, has proved that we are aware of our environmezntal obligations and are aiming to reduce our carbon footprint," said Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) P Srinivas. He congratulated senior DEnHM Ram Chandra Sahoo and his team for bagging the certification and lauded their efforts in maintaining high standards in passenger amenities and rail operations.