Dip in littering, spitting cases in Central Railway suburbs this fiscal

In what might be called as a positive impact of the 'Swachh Bharat' mission, littering and spitting cases have come down considerably in suburban sections of the Central Railway (CR) in Mumbai

In what might be called as a positive impact of the 'Swachh Bharat' mission, littering and spitting cases have come down considerably in suburban sections of the Central Railway (CR) in Mumbai during the first four months of this fiscal as compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, according to a senior railway official.

As per statistics, in 2014-15, a total of 320 cases per month were registered in the suburban sections of the CR. While, in the first four months of current fiscal (2015-16), the cases have decreased by 100 per cent and scaled down to 160 cases per month. In the previous fiscal (2014-15), total 3,834 cases were registered under the Indian Railways (penalties for activities affecting cleanliness at railway premises) Rules, 2012 which accumulated the fine of Rs 6.50 lakhs.

While first four months of this fiscal, i.e from April 2015 to July 2015, total 637 cases were registered under the same act and fetched the amount of Rs 1.37 lakh as fine. "First we tried to educate passengers to keep the stations clean, hygienic but now we have started imposing revised fines of Rs 500 in all over the suburban section," the railway officer said adding that it is not possible to keep stations clean unless all the stakeholders such as passengers, vendors and those using the premises contribute equally.

Commenting on reduced cases of spitting/littering upto half in current year, the official said, "This is the impact of our persistent efforts and also a sense of cleanliness has risen among the passengers due to Swachh Bharat Mission."

According to rules, anyone who spits, urinates, defecates, deface, feed animal or birds, repair or wash vehicles, wash utensils or clothes in any railway premises or throws or deposits litter in any occupied or unoccupied railway premises except in authorised places, attracts penalty of Rs 500 under the Indian Railways Rules, 2012.

Railways has authorised the station master or station managers or commercial staff to levy the fine.

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