Tips to keep railway platformsclean:
The first and most obvious aberration [deviation] from keeping a clean platform / railway station is allowing passengers to throw Tea , coffee cups and food packages either on the platform or into the tracks. Just because Railways employ sweepers to clean, doesn’t mean the you and I can do this. When we prevent this littering on the platform and into the tracts we save valuable labour time of the railways which can be utilized for some other constructive purpose. The passengers near the train in railway stations drink a cup of tea or coffee or have some snacks in a container ; once it is emptied is casually thrown on the platform or in the tracks . We the onlookers look at this sad state helplessly ; when we point where the Trash bin is we are greeted with a reply “ mind your own business “ . Where as the conservancy worker more duty conscious goes picks it up into her basket and throws where it should have been by the user .But without teaching a moral to the perpetrator .Who is to inform and educate this class of people who don’t care for the public cleanliness .Why complicate the act and also spend money, time on the conservancy work. Straight away warn first and then penalize them financially. You can witness the example of” Don’t drink and drive “ wear helmet rules “
Sloutions :
1. The conservancy workers in the railways should have 3 roles :
* one role to clean the litter in the platforms and Tracts as routinely done now.
* the other role to conscioundize and advice the litter producers where to throw.
*A third role , after giving awareness give tickets to penalize with the help of GRPF; without a penalty for a legitimate cause it will be difficult to stop the dirty habit and cultivate healthy habit. [eg: Don’t Drink and Drive slogan didn’t work . once the penalty was imposed see the vast difference.] What a phenomenal amount the Government had wasted all these years to educate the public . Same is true of the Helmet rule.]
2.Provide sufficient bins in the Railway stations /platforms , commensurate with the capacity of the passenger / s to produce garbage . Each railway station will have its own capacity to produce a certain quantity of garbage . For example , Chennai Central, Arakonam, Madurai, Tiruchirapally , Jaipur, Phulera , Guntakkal etc. Asses the quantity and then determine the number of bins required to that station. The classification should be garbage production and not revenue generation. A station Master wili not be able to do it. Only the conservancy worker man / woman will be able to do it. Entrust him / her to gauge the number of bins required for that particular station.
2 a) Segregation of garbage is a must from day one of the installation of the Bins.
3. Make sure all these bins are cleared on a regular daily basis to avoid , birds, stray dogs and even humans disturbing the bin. A heavy lid can be in place to see that birds, dogs and rodent don’t displace the garbage from the bin to the street .
4. It is absolutely important to fumigate the dust bins periodically to avoid them attracting insects and other pests and the nauseating unhealthy stink
5. As a test study select some Make Railways better circle member to try in a few railway stations on a voluntary basis. I offer my voluntary services as “Ceanliness is next to Godliness “ more