Sir, Cleanliness on trains and at Railway Stations is still a paramount factor which needs urgent attention after passenger safety. The Railways have made certain arrangements to ensure cleanliness on-board trains including OBHS facility and ‘Clean My Coach’ sms/Helpline facility. Presently for passengers travelling by air-conditioned coaches, a disposable bag is supplied to all the passengers at the originating station. The bag has instructions for the passengers to use it to dump the waste and trash it. No doubt this has been initiated to ensure cleanliness in the coach but such a move to provide a bag is unwarranted. The current arrangement of providing disposable bags is of no help as it cannot be re-used or may not be possible to re-cycle it. Hence, the Railways should now initiate an alternate strategy to ensure cleanliness by providing mini trash bins in the entire coach. A mini trash bin will help ensure to discard the waste and will otherwise help to save environment and ensure hygiene. The Ministry of Railways and Railway Board are requested to look into this suggestion and implement the environment-friendly measure on trains at the earliest.
- Varun Srinivas, Bengaluru, 14.11.2018
