Very soon, people arriving in Delhi via train will be greeted by lush greenery and colourful flowers. Taking a leaf out of the South Beijing railway station in China, the Delhi Division of Indian Railways is developing green patches on approaches to the Capital and at Delhi Main and New Delhi railway stations.
“This will ensure that passengers do not see filth or open defecation while approaching Delhi, apart from curbing encroachment of public land where we are growing the shrubs,” said Arun Arora, Divisional Railway Manager of Delhi.
“We have planted green patches at approaches to Delhi Main and New Delhi railway stations wherever it was feasible, both along the tracks and between tracks,” Mr. Arora said, adding: “We had to ensure that the patches would not affect train operations and we also didn’t plant trees as these could fall during storms and disrupt operations. We have gone only for small plants”.
‘Like South Beijing station’
The planting exercise began in late 2016 and will be finished by April this year. “Our aim is to move in the direction of Beijing and Shanghai,” Mr. Arora said.
“The entry into Delhi, be it to the New Delhi station, Delhi station or Nizammuddin station, is not a pleasing sight. To mitigate this problem, we developed green pathches along the tracks,” a railway spokesperson said.
The plan has been developed in two phases, beginning with special drives to clean up the garbage spread along the tracks.
“Mixed success was seen in these efforts. In areas where there were no big JJ cluster, the cleaning was maintained on a sustainable basis. However, in areas close to big JJ clusters, the garbage re-accumulated just a few days after the drive,” the spokesperson said.
In the next phase, ‘good earth’ was spread on the vacant land near the tracks and the area was protected with fences and shrubs.
JJ clusters
“However, in the areas close to big JJ clusters, the scheme couldn’t succeed as there was continuous human defecation and disturbance of the planted area,” he said.
“The yards, however, will be developed on the lines of the South Beijing station in China. The vacant land in the yards of Delhi and New Delhi railway station will be planted with shrubs and grass and maintained as a green patch,” he said.
