Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to ban single-use plastic on its office premises, railway stations and in trains from this Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) in an attempt to get rid of hazardous impact of plastic on the environment.
According to a statement issued by the ECoR Tuesday, the railways has taken steps to prevent use of single-use plastic on its premises, especially in railway stations, trains, residential areas and its establishments.
ECoR general manager (GM) Vidya Bhushan at a ceremony here administered oath to its employees and officers not to use plastic in their day-to-day life and to aware others about the impact on environment.
Later, the GM along with other senior officials and staff participated in Shram Dan programme where plastic wastes have been cleared from Rail Sadan premises here.
ECoR has also encouraged its vendors to avoid use of polythene carry bags. Similarly, employees are asked to reduce, reuse and refuse plastic products and to use reusable bags to reduce dependence on plastic.
The railways has already taken some steps regarding green initiatives like electrical energy generating from solar and wind system, installing environment-friendly bio-toilets in passenger coaches, electrification of railway lines, use of LED lights, plantation at railway sidings, saplings, water recycling plants, rainwater harvesting systems and others.
Besides, the ECoR has also installed 16 plastic bottle crushing machines at railway stations and planned to install such machines at Puri (four machines), Khurda Road (two), Rayagada (two) and one each at Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Simhachalam, Araku, Jagadalpur, Bolangir, Titilagarh and Kesinga stations.
Steps have also been taken to minimise the generation of plastic waste and its eco-friendly disposal, the ECoR said.
The railway authorities have also undertaken drives to aware train commuters and rail users to use this machine so as to ensure cleanliness of railway station premises.
The Centre has undertaken measures to impose a nationwide ban of single-use plastic like plastic bags, cups, plates, small bottles, straws and some specific types of sachets from October 2, 2019.