Eastern Railway to Fine Rs 200 for Littering and Spitting

KOLKATA: Eastern Railway will slap Rs 200 fine for littering or spitting at stations or train coaches, general manager Milind Deouskar said on Saturday while launching “Eastern Railway is Watching You”, a rigorous cleanliness drive. Commuters can post photos of offenders on a WhatsApp number to enable the authorities to catch them red-handed. Also, special monitoring will be done by RPF through CCTVs to act against those preventing them from keeping the railway premises spotless. “We shall charge Rs 200 for every biscuit wrap thrown or each time someone chooses to spit somewhere in the station or the train,” the GM told a media conference held at Howrah station. “It is impossible to pick up every litter strewn along a length (say 700m) of tracks, unsafe, too. The CCTVs are there to catch offenders. Otherwise, commuters should be our eyes and ears. They can use this number – 9002022780 – whenever they spot a fellow passenger dirtying a railway property,” the GM said. With senior officers like DRM, Howrah, Vishal Kapoor, Deouskar inspected the entire station area, interacting with railway users to explain the campaign and stress the importance of cleanliness. It is impossible to achieve proper cleanliness without passenger cooperation, he said. “If 2.5 crore passengers take to littering and spitting, how can a handful of railway staff – around 1,000 of them – do the cleaning?”, the GM asked. “This is the third phase of ER’s intensive awareness campaign against littering,” CPRO Shibram Majhi said. The extensive cleanliness drive commenced in April this year, and today’s launch adopts a zero-tolerance policy against littering and spitting within all railway premises, Majhi said. The campaign titled “Eastern Railway is Watching You” is to hit home the message that ER would be constantly watching and monitoring the railway premises to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. “A vast network of cameras apart from teams of dedicated railway staff will actively monitor passenger behavior, and anyone caught littering or spitting will face an immediate, on-spot fine. Also, passengers can now actively participate in keeping stations clean. If a railway user finds anyone littering or spitting, they can take a photograph of the offender and WhatsApp it along with the exact location to the dedicated number 9002022780,” an official said. ER will immediately identify the offender to slap an on-spot fine. The passenger who sent the photo will be honored as “Captain Clean” and receive a certificate of appreciation from Eastern Railway.