Railways to run 'muck special' trains daily to collect garbage dumped along tracks

Indian Railways

Indian Railways is planning to run a 'muck special' train every day to collect the garbage dumped along suburban train tracks, Mumbai Mirror reported.

These trains were earlier operated occasionally, and only in the wee hours of the day, when passenger train operations are shut.

As of now, Central Railway runs four 'muck special' trains between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Kalyan station, while Western Railway runs five such trains between Churchgate and Virar stations.

"Earlier, the railway authorities used to run muck special trains only occasionally. But now, it has become a regular feature as the amount of garbage dumped alongside the tracks has gone up. We are trying to keep the tracks clean under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan," a railway official told the paper.

In FY18, Central Railways and Western Railways disposed a total of 1.69 lakh cubic metres of garbage.

The prime responsibility of curbing the dumping of garbage lies with the local civic body. However, the civic body had not been carrying out its work properly, General Manager of Central Railway, DK Sharma told the paper.

"The garbage is dumped by the authorised or unauthorised units dwelling alongside the tracks, which is posing a challenge before us. No one needs to tell whose responsibility it is. It's our collective responsibility to keep our surroundings clean. But we are doing our job and running four muck special trains every day," Sharma told the paper.

The dumped garbage defaces railway tracks and clogs the drainage lines, which ultimately leads to water-logging during the monsoon.

The railway authorities have stationed some outsourced JCB machines at chronic spots to help lift the garbage.