DNA Special: Pollution goes off the rails at stations

According to a Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report studying environmental management of trains and tracks — obtained by DNA under the Right To Information (RTI) Act — pollution levels at major railway stations are much higher than the prescribed limits. This is putting at risk the health of several lakhs of people working in various railway stations across the country. 

The report is based on the study conducted by CPCB’s zonal offices in Bhopal, Vadodara, Kolkata, Bangalore and Shillong in March 2012, in order to evaluate the measures taken up by Indian railways for controlling air, water and noise pollution in station premises. 

The CPCB report said that the authorities at Bilaspur, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Jabalpur railway stations have so far not applied for consents under the Water and Air Act of the CPCB. Some of the stations have also not obtained consent under the hazardous waste authorisation. These consents are supposed to be taken before the railway station starts its operations and has to be renewed from time to time. 

Bilaspur railway station does not even have waste water treatment facility, and it discharges waste water directly to the nalla that carries city sewage and waste water to the Arpa river. “Consents are indispensable. Without consent the stations don’t have proper guidelines for environment management,” said Gopal Krishna, convener of the Delhi-based organisation Toxic Watch Alliance.  

It is no surprise then that air pollution at every station is very high. According to the report, ambient air quality tests revealed that the levels of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) are exceeding the prescribed limits at most of the monitoring sites. Turn to p8

Pollution board red flags railway stations

With the exception of Khurda and Bhuvaneshwar railway station, no other station was meeting the prescribed air quality standards.

“If these fourteen stations show such a bad picture, I am sure others would be no different,” said Krishna.

“RSPM causes asthma and respiratory diseases and sustained exposure to it can cause lung cancer. For people who are working there, be it a stall operator or other railway staff, it becomes an occupational hazard,'' said Anumita Roychowdhury, head of the clean air campaign of Centre for Science and Environment, adding that every railway station must have a proper environment management plan. 

Noise levels too were higher than the prescribed limits in several railway stations. The report said that railway stations of Bilaspur, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Howrah, Sealdah, Khurda, Bhuvaneshwar, Patna, Vadodara and Ahmadabad have higher levels of noise. The noise levels are highest during the arrival of trains and near food plaza, the report said. 

Sumera Abdul Ali, a leading noise pollution activist from Awaz Foundation, said that exposure to high levels of noise contributes to a rise in blood pressure, and increases stress. “We often see people fighting in the railway stations and platforms. These may be triggered due to stress arising out of the constant exposure to noise,” she added. 

While the quality of drinking water was poor in Bilaspur and Patna railway stations, the other railway stations are providing proper drinking water, the report said.

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