NGT directed Indian Railways to impose a fine of 5000 rupees for littering on railway property

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 18 March 2015 directed the Indian Railways to impose a fine of 5000 rupees on individuals spotted littering or throwing waste on the railway platforms and railway tracks.

The order was given with an aim to implement the genesis of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and was passed by a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.

The Bench said that maintaining clean environment and hygiene at the stations and tracks is the prime duty of the Railway authorities and it cannot shift the burden in this regard to any other department.

The bench passed a slew of directions to Railways and other authorities for maintaining cleanliness on railway tracks. The directions are as follows:

• Place dustbins after identifying exact locations for collection of garbage in 46 slum clusters adjoining railway tracks.

• For collection and disposal of municipal solid wastes, it directed the Railways to collect, transport and treat the waste at the treatment plants instead of directly releasing the garbage into sewer system.

• Install mobile toilets near slum clusters in order to control pollution caused by plastic products and human defecation around railway tracks.

The NGT Bench issued the directions while hearing a petition filed by lawyers Saloni Singh and Arush Pathania seeking a blanket ban on use and sale of plastic products on railway platforms across the country besides a ban on open defecation by people around tracks.