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Showing posts with label pollution control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pollution control. Show all posts

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

06:17

Delhi Metro is building a Safe & Pollution Free Delhi

Delhi Metro is building a Safe & Pollution Free Delhi

New Delhi: Delhi’s rising air pollution levels have scared all. While the state government tried to curb it a bit by running a trial phase of the odd-even rule along with several other measures, but we all know that is not enough. Every individual and organization have to do their bit to preserve the city environment.

They can seek inspiration from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which has recycled about 8.80 tonnes of waste paper over a period of five months in order to contribute its bit to preserving the environment.

“In August 2015, a decision was taken to recycle e-waste paper generated from the offices of the Delhi Metro,” a DMRC statement said here.

A specialised agency was roped in for the purpose and waste paper baskets were installed at all offices requesting the employees to dump waste paper in those baskets, it said.

The agency then collected the waste paper, recycled it for use again and delivered it back to the Delhi Metro authorities, said the statement.

With this initiative, the DMRC has been able to substantially reduce the consumption of fresh paper since a bulk of its paper requirements are now fulfilled by recycled waste paper.

The DMRC has also taken other recycling initiatives under which many other waste materials generated by it, such as horticultural waste, wooden materials, SS steel sheets etc. are being reused after recycling.

The Delhi Metro has also been constructing all its upcoming stations as green buildings with provisions for solar power. A number of DMRC stations, depots and residential premises already have solar power facilities.

DMRC recycles 9 tonne unusable waste paper

In an attempt towards green initiative and environment conservation, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has recycled nine tonne trash paper into usable paper from its offices in the past five months. Last August, Delhi Metro had decided to use unused paper in its offices and make them usable through recycling. For this, they collaborated with an agency and just within five months recycled 8.

The DMRC on Sunday claimed that in the past five months, since the project took off, it has so far recycled over 8.80 tonnes of waste paper, which has resulted in saving considerable amount of power and water along with curtailing carbon emissions.

“We had conducted a survey to gauge the results of this drive and it revealed that as much as 15.84 MW electricity was saved during this period. Similarly, water consumption avoided was 2200 KLD (kilo litres per day) while waste water generation resulted in savings of about 61.60 KLD,” said a DMRC official. Apart from this, adequate reduction in coal consumption, bamboo consumption was also recorded, he added.

The DMRC had decided to recycle and re-use waste paper generated from the offices of the Delhi Metro in August last year.
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Wednesday, 2 September 2015

07:43

Rail Pollution: NGT directs IR’s Environment Directorate to file a reply on direct discharge through toilets on Railway lines

Rail Pollution: NGT directs IR’s Environment Directorate to file a reply on direct discharge through toilets on Railway lines

Pune: The National Green Tribunal (West Zone) has directed the environment directorate of the railway ministry to file a reply on the issue of direct discharge through toilets on the Indian Railways system which leads to massive pollution, an activist said on Tuesday.

“The NGT has taken serious cognizance of our environment interest litigation (EIL) which points out how nearly 4,000 tonnes of human waste is dumped daily through the ‘open discharge system’ used on Indian Railways,” said lawyer Asim Sarode.

The NGT recently asked the railway ministry to file its reply and remain present before the tribunal on Octpber 1, in the EIL filed through NGO Sahyog Trust’s socio-legal analyst Rama Sarode and her team comprising Mukta Sathe, Tushar Wayal, Sanjay Jadhav and Shreyas Atre.

The petition demanded that the existing toilet systems must be replaced with eco-friendly alternatives like bio-toilets.

The EIL said pollution was not limited only to railway tracks, but surroundings like water bodies, rivers, atmosphere when faecal matter discharged causes severe pollution and health hazards.

“In fact, the toilets in the Indian Railway systems have become the biggest mobile source of environmental pollution with this daily hazard dumped all over the country where thousands of trains ply,” Sarode said.

Citing a CAG report, Sarode said that despite two decades of conducting trials with different models of ‘green toilets’, the Indian Railways have failed to finalise the suitable technology and implement it, though the deadline was 2007.

Even the installation of bio-toilets, which converts excreta into neutral water using a form of bacteria has been dissatisfactory with only 10 percent work completed so far, he added.

Besides stopping the present form of direct discharge, the EIL urged the railway ministry to appoint only those coach manufacturers who can incorporate eco-friendly toilets into the coach design, and cover all water bodies on which railway tracks pass to prevent the discharge of human waste into the fresh water below.
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Tuesday, 2 June 2015

11:19

Railways trials Solar-powered trains to help cut pollution

Railways trials Solar-powered trains to help cut pollution

New Delhi: Indian Railways is soon going to materialise its ambitious plan of harnessing solar energy to run trains. The prototype of the solar power-enabled coach is undergoing trials, and soon the entire train will be fitted with solar panels, officials said. While solar power will significantly bring down diesel consumption, it will also prove to be cost-effective. At present, nearly 17 units of electricity are being generated from the solar power enabled coach.

“As the pilot project, one non-AC coach has been fitted with solar panels on the rooftop. The trial has been successful so far with the coach generating nearly 17 units of electricity every day. Depending on its success, decision will be taken to convert the entire train into a solar power-enabled one,” said Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi Division Mr.Arun Arora.

Officials said that by harnessing solar power, the railways will be able to save Rs 1.24 lakh per coach year.

“Solar energy will be used to meet the electricity needs in moving trains, and reduce diesel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions,” Arora said.

According to studies, a train using solar power can reduce diesel consumption by up to 90,000 litres per year and also bring down the carbon dioxide emission by over 200 tonnes.

As per the plan, the train would be pulled by conventional diesel-run engines while solar panels will provide all the internal electricity needs for lights and fans on both AC and non-AC coaches.

Officials said India has huge solar power potential, with a good amount of sunlight available for a major part of the day round the year. Harnessing solar power to power Indian Railways is more feasible and cost-effective.

The clear motive of the project is to cut down on the railways’ fuel bill, which is the second-largest component of expenditure after the employee salaries for the cash-strapped government behemoth used by over 1.3 crore people every day.

In 2013-14, from the Rs 1.27 lakh crore of Indian Railways’ expenditure, nearly Rs 28,500 crore (22 per cent) were spent on fuel.

According to a Northern Railway official, 40 sqmetre of space is available on a train’s roof top. Of these, nearly 24 sq-metre of space is covered with 12 solar panels. The remaining 16 sq-metre of space can further accommodate six solar panels, officials said.

As per the mechanism, alternate coaches are provided with solar panels and when required electricity is fed from the adjoining coach.

Indian Railways has been focusing on alternate source of fuels with trials already on to use CNG, biodiesel and natural gas among others.

CNG is being used in local trains on Rohtak–Rewari section of Delhi Division. The dual fuel concept of using CNG and diesel has also helped in saving fuel and money.
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Thursday, 14 May 2015

08:46

Railways set up first laundry unit in Kerala

Railways set up first laundry unit in Kerala

Mechanised unit to be commissioned by Suresh Prabhu later this month

Complaints of stained or torn bed sheets, blankets, face towels, and soiled pillows distributed in upper class coaches of long distance trains originating from the State will be a thing of the past. The first high-tech mechanised laundry of Railways in the State has been set up near the Kochuveli terminal in the capital city under the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) mode.

The laundry, which has come up in 10,000 sq ft of Railway land leased out to a private firm, is providing bedrolls to eight mail and express trains originating from Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kochuveli terminal, and Nagercoil on trial basis.

Sunil Bajpai, Divisional Railway Manager, told The Hindu that the unit would be commissioned during the forthcoming visit of Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to the city later this month. The three-tonne capacity (per shift) automatic laundry involves steam wash and automatic drying, pressing and folding processes. The washer, dryer, and ironer have been imported from Sweden, and the folder from the Netherlands. Three hundred bedroll sets, each comprising two bed sheets, one pillow, and a face towel, weighing one kg, can be handled in a single shift.

Heavy washing is resorted to for removing stains and the steam from the boiler is used for drying and washing. Clean, pressed, and packaged linen in environment-friendly waterproof bags is made available to the linen room on platforms.

The Malappuram-based Orion Enterprises, which has developed the infrastructure at a cost of Rs.10 crore, runs the unit with 18 staff. An effluent treatment plant has also been set up at a cost of Rs.22 lakh to discharge the water from the unit as per Pollution Control Board norms. The venture, the second after Chennai in Southern Railways, is to keep off incompetent contractors and bring the laundry segment under Railways. Another laundry unit is to be set up in Ernakulam.

Source : The Hindu
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