BENGALURU: The Railways is facing a tough challenge to keep its railway tracks clean. The Bengaluru Railway Division has been fencing the sides of the tracks located near residential areas to block littering and now plans to urge the BBMP to book errant people.
Mounds of garbage can be found next to railway tracks from Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (KSR-Bengaluru city) railway station to Kengeri, Cantonment to Bengaluru East, Cantonment to KSR and KSR to Yeshwanthpur.
Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru Division, Ashok Kumar Verma, told The New Indian Express, “The Passenger Amenities Committee (a Ministry of Railways body), which visited Bengaluru earlier this week, was keen that the tracks be cleared of all garbage. They suggested an arrangement with civic agencies to facilitate it.”
Senior Divisional Engineer, Coordination, Parvesh Kumar, conceded that dumping of garbage is a major menace for the Railways. “The problem is acute along the KSR-Kengeri stretch. We have so far fenced the side of the tracks along 4 km of this stretch and plan to cover the entire 12 km. Fencing has been done only along portions where residential areas border our tracks,” Kumar said.
One type of fencing has concrete walls with the top portion barricaded by a steel mesh, while the other has vertical walls built using old railway sleepers, he said.
“Bengaluru Railway Division officials have decided to meet BBMP officials involved in garbage management to curb littering,” Kumar said. Railway officials visited localities that dump garbage and counselled the residents not to do so, but it has not helped, he said.
Fed up with residents dumping garbage bags on the premises of the Krishnarajapuram loco shed, railway officials went on a door-to-door campaign and made residents sign an undertaking that they would not litter. The officials also told them that legal action will be taken if they continue to do so.