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Rly workshop to dispose of 5,000 tonnes of waste

Southern Railway Golden Rock Workshop at Ponmalai in Tiruchi.B.Velankanni Raj

Having initiated a safe way for disposal of accumulated non-hazardous zero value waste a few months ago, the Golden Rock Railway Workshop here has now drawn up an ambitious plan to dispose off 5,000 tonnes of zero value waste in the coming months.

The agreement, which the over 75-year-old workshop had signed with the private cement major UltraTech Cement Limited at Ariyalur, has paved the way for scientific and safe disposal of 5,000 tonnes of non-hazardous zero value waste under phase-II.

In phase-I, the workshop disposed off nearly 400 tonnes of waste to the cement plant, where it would be used as an alternative fuel in the kilns. Moving forward, the nodal workshop of the Indian Railways has now aimed to dispose off the remaining 5,000 tonnes before the end of the year.

Nodal workshop

The first lot of nearly six tonnes of zero value waste under phase-II was dispatched to the cement plant through a goods carrier on Wednesday, workshop authorities told The Hindu . Set up during the British Raj, the workshop, considered to be a nodal one in the Indian Railway networkshop, carries out periodic overhaul of broad gauge passenger coaches and diesel locomotives besides manufacturing container wagons for the Container Corporation of India and overhauling steam locomotives chugging in the Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

Tonnes of zero value waste in the form rubber belts, rexin sheets, seat berths and cushions generated during overhaul of coaches were being dumped along the peripheries inside the sprawling workshop.

Accumulation

The huge accumulation of zero value waste was causing serious environmental concerns to the workshop authorities until the idea of using them as co-processing in cement plant emerged.

The agreement with the cement plant in November last paved the way for slow and steady disposal of waste in a safe and scientific manner, said the authorities. The disposal through goods carrier to the cement plant would a regular affair henceforth to the extent of nearly 150 to 200 tonnes every week.

The reclaimed areas post-disposal of zero value waste would be used for further improving green cover within the workshop premises, said a senior official. Plans were afoot to plant saplings of various tree species inside to make the workshop environment-friendly.

The Golden Rock Workshop, which has already initiated green measures, is one among the 33 workshops in the Indian Railway network.

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