To ensure proper disposal of plastic bottles at railway stations, South Western Railways (SWR), Mysuru Division has installed plastic bottle crushing machines at Mysuru and Shivamogga railway stations coming under the division. The authorities will also fix the machines at the said stations in the days to come.
According to the authorities, this would be a step towards making Mysuru a green city. Mysuru Division is constantly striving to keep station, platforms, track and station premises clean. With close to 62,000 footfalls every day, six platforms of the station often get very busy during arrival and departure of trains.
During peak periods of the day it is observed that considerable number of water bottles are found littered on the platforms. As summer is approaching, the requirement of water bottles naturally increases and the waste generated by used plastic bottles affects the cleanliness of Mysuru Station, which is o ne of the cleanest stations.
An innovative way to dispose of plastic bottles generated at the station is a thought proposed for this railway station. To respond to this need, an automatic, noiseless Pet Bottle Crushing Machine has been installed o n Platform Number 1 in Mysuru at a cost of Rs 3.04 lakh.
The machine starts and stops automatically based o n the plastic bottle feed. O nce a bottle is inserted, the machine starts automatically and disintegrates the bottle into fine piece of plastic which are then released.
Mysuru Railway Division has 92 block stations and 46 train haltsand the division runs on an average 61 pair of Express and Passenger trains everyday. Mysuru, Hassan, Arsikere, Tiptur, Birur, Shivamogga Town, Chikjajur, Davanagere, Harihar, Haveri, Sakaleshpur and Subramanya Road stations are considered as the major stations in the division.
Mysuru Railway Division is in the process of entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (UoM) with plastic manufacturers for collecting the crushed plastic pieces which would generate sundry revenue.
Based on the result, more such machines will be installed in other important stations of SWR. The Division is also trying to explore the avenue of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organisations to promote installation of the eco-friendly system, he said.