India News | Indian Railways Highlights Its Energy-efficient Policies to Celebrate World Environment Day
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Indian Railways on Thursday said that it observed the World Environment Day keeping in line with the theme of this year's World Environment Day "Our land, Our Future".
New Delhi, June 6 (PTI) The Indian Railways on Thursday said that it observed the World Environment Day keeping in line with the theme of this year's World Environment Day "Our land, Our Future".
Jaya Varma Sinha, Chairperson & CEO, Railway Board and other senior officials of Railway Board graced the event, organised on Wednesday, and motivated railway officials to increase their efforts in further environmental protection activities, a press statement issued by the Railway Board said.
World Environment Day 2024 themes focus on land restoration, halting desertification and drought resilience.
The board said that this year, it is also taking major outreach and advocacy activities for mass mobilisation on 'Mission LIFE' with the aim to sensitise people about the impact of behavioural change on the environment during the month of June.
"As of now, 249 awareness and 147 action events have been conducted across all Indian Railways in which 4,921 participants have participated. A total number of 4,395 'Mission LiFE' pledges have also been administered across Indian Railways," it said.
"Indian Railways is an environmental friendly means of bulk transportation. For environment protection, the Railways have been taking continuous initiatives that have a positive impact on the environment by way of reducing pollution/GHG emissions, promoting resources and energy efficiency and contributing to sustainability," it added.
The board highlighted about a dozen major initiatives in order to be sustainable. Among them are the installation of 65 Effluent Treatment Plants, 86 Water Recycling Plants, 90 Sewage Treatment Plants, 18 Waste to Energy Plants, 186 Waste to Compost and 32 Solid Waste Management Plants.
Besides, 826 plastic water bottle crushing machines have also been installed at major railway stations.
Talking about its waste management strategies that emphasise recycling, reduction and its responsible disposal, it said that the creation of green space, proper disposal of hazardous waste materials and recharging ground water aquifers can reverse the land degradation.
"Indian Railways has electrified 63,456 Route Kilometers (RKMs) up to April 2024 which is more than 96 per cent of the total broad-gauge network of Indian Railways. A total of 2,637 stations and service buildings have been provided with solar roof-top plants with a total power generation capacity of 177 MW," the board said.
It added, "Energy efficiency guidelines for re-development of railway stations and other buildings have been issued with Super-ECBC compliance. These Super ECBC guidelines have been developed with a goal to minimise energy demand through climatic responsive building design and energy efficient technologies."
According to the board, for the re-development of the major railway stations, it has provided guidelines in the form of Environment Management Plan and these guidelines have to be followed in the Zonal Railways in order to mitigate the effects of construction in surrounding areas.
"As a policy initiative, IR has introduced the concept of assigning Carbon Saving Points termed as "Rail Green Points" to its freight customers which give details of the expected saving of carbon emission. This initiative of customer participation in creating environmental impact will motivate them to transport more by train in future," the board said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)