CPCB insisted railways control pollution

CPCB insisted railways control pollution

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has “insisted” that the Ministry of Railways devise a modern environmental management plan to control air, water, and noise pollution at major railway stations.
• The CPCB had called for the formation of a joint committee comprising Railway and State government /local body officials to ensure basic civic amenities and improve environment conditions at Class­I stations. The move follows a high­level meeting convened by the CPCB involving top officials of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Development. 
• The Railways in turn requested the CPCB to assign due weightage to different components/parameters in the template for environment performance based on the rating of railway stations that are currently under review by the CPCB.
• However, the central agency insisted on developing a modern environmental plan to address issues relating to air, water, and noise pollution in each of the 720 stations taken up for assessment across the country
• A separate template on environmental assessment and management would be prepared for all metro stations
• Poor quality of environment parameters, particularly noise levels, has been an issue of concern at major stations. Joint inspections conducted by the central and state pollution control authorities at select stations in the past two years revealed that a majority of them, including the Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Chennai Central railway station and the Tiruchi junction in Southern Railway, had not complied with the green norms under various statutory rules of the CPCB.
• The CPCB has now advised that the Ministry of Railways shall be responsible for the implementation of various pollution control measures.

Source: The Hindu