Three railway station in hyderabad city declared eco-smart

Secunderabad: In what can be termed as another feather in the cap of South Central Railway (SCR), Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Kacheguda railway stations have been identified as eco-smart stations. They have been awarded the Environmental Standard ISO 14001:2015 Certification for implementing Environmental Management System. In all, nine stations of SCR were awarded the certification.

ISO 14001 Certification is issued to the stations which fulfil the laid down standards in provision of services and amenities for transportation of passengers and maintenance of cleanliness of railway station premises and timely disposal of garbage to Municipal authority. The standards which are laid down are mainly aimed at minimising consumable resources and developing environment friendly atmosphere.

ISO 14001 Certification to Railway stations is issued, based on the environmental management system being adopted and managing the aspects which have a significant impact on environment. This includes maintaining cleanliness, disposal of solid waste, pet bottle shredders, anti-littering, water conservation, energy conservation, installation of solar energy, developing green belt and implementing zero waste management among others.

Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed Indian Railways to identify 36 stations to be developed as Eco-Smart stations by achieving green environment standards. Accordingly, the South Central Railway (SCR) identified three stations from its zone — Secunderabad, Kacheguda and Vijayawada.

The NGT has laid down certain norms for achieving environment standard certification. One among them is getting ISO 14001 certification from BIS. Accordingly, all the three identified railway stations to be developed as Eco-Smart stations viz., Secunderabad, Kacheguda and Vijayawada are now in receipt of ISO 14001:2015 certification complying the NGT norms.