Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has recently presented the Railway Budget in the Parliament. He has announced undertaking several projects for providing safe and comfortable journey to the travellers.
The Budget primarily focuses on better and efficient management of locomotives, provision of amenities for comfortable journey and environmental management while undertaking a slew of infrastructure projects, including expansion of tracks. The Budget also lays stress on sanitation and hygiene in train as well as in the railway station. It announces that 17,000 more bio- toilets, including 650 new station toilets, will be provided to the passengers in the running trains for better and improved sanitation. Rs 8.5lakh crore will be spent for improvement of new rail network within next five years.
There must be scientific management of waste of passengers. Needless to say, inadequate hygiene and improper sanitation poses a major threat to safe journey in India and the Railways should have its own infrastructure for management of human wastes. The wastes can be recycled into bio- fertilizers and harvest of energy for running the railway stations without depending on fossil fuel. Sadly, this point has not been taken into consideration while formulating the Railway Budget.
Since wastes are thrown irresponsibly, they pose a hazard to our life in the form of giving rise to numerous diseases. Again, there are provisions of supplying meals to the passengers. If this is done, lots of food wastages are likely to be created which if not properly managed would cause more grime. Trains run by fossils fuels discharge lots of carbons to the atmosphere. Especially in the coal mining areas, fossil fuel driven engines are engaged which pollute the atmosphere at a grand scale. The Budget seems to be very silent on controlling the bio-destructive practices of railway organs.
Again, it is most pertinent to mention that the Government of India, especially the Railway Department, has not taken into consideration unnatural deaths of wild animals through train accidents, which have grown a day-to-day affair at present. The Indian trains mostly travel within the wild life corridors of tropical and peninsular land where large number of carnivores and herbivores live. More often than not, these animals come over to the railway track leading to accidents and wanton destruction of wildlife. Especially, within the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, these accidents are very common.
When it comes to taking responsibility, the Forest Department and the Railways often pick up a tug of war. Odisha is an accident-prone area with elephants mostly being mauled over by the running trains. Recently one leopard was crushed to death at Hatibadi in Sambalpur district. Absolutely there is no attempt from either the Forest or the Railways to stop the accidents. Whatever is done is not adequate.
The train lines also pass through the corridors of Naxalites in the State. However, the Railways has not made enough to ensure passenger safety and saving the public properties. The Maoists target the railway tracks and cause colossal destruction to the department and the traffic by blowing over the rail infrastructure. There is an urgent need to check the Maoist vandalism. Similarly, the mining operations within the State forest create unrest among the animals and birds forcing them to stray. As a result, often they come under the wheels of the running trains.
Natural forests and biological hubs are damaged for construction of railway passage, but these are not compensated through plantation or otherwise. The whole railway network spoils the calmness of the environment at various places for peaceful existence of the creatures in the forests. They damage the natural habitats, create sound and light pollution and cause accidents.
Both sides of railway lines can be raised with suitable forest plants as compensatory efforts, which can restrict the light and sound pollutions and reduce the accumulation of carbon in atmosphere. Besides, the barren wetlands and dry lands can be utilized for productive purpose. There are certain types of birds and lizards, which prefer to live in wet land, including some amphibian and semi amphibian species. Now, trains are also a safe vehicle for covert transportation of contrabands like ganja.
The western and the south western forests of Odisha including some parts of eastern forests are now widely used for ganja farming. This trade is going on under the very nose of the forest and railway employees, police and excise personnel. The State Intelligence department has utterly failed to book the culprits.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)