"No specific criteria have been laid down by the Railway Board to assess the performance of each zone in minimising environmental pollution," CAG has observed in its latest report tabled in Parliament today.
According to Air Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1981, all sidings and goods sheds should obtain consent for operation from their respective state pollution control boards.
The zonal railway administrations failed to adhere to the statutory provisions in respect of 50 per cent of the sidings test checked, it observed.
CAG has said that guidelines issued by West Bengal and Jharkhand pollution control boards were also not fully complied with in both Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway in the good sheds and sidings test checked.
It has found that in most of the zones, coal and iron were being carried in open wagons without covering with tarpaulin sheets thus posing a health hazard to residents in neighbouring areas.
Railway Board has instructed that efficient treatment plants be installed at all major stations. On an average, one effluent treatment plant was installed in each zone leaving most of the major stations without such a plant.
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In the absence of treatment plants, CAG has found that effluents were being discharged in the nearby low lying areas and water bodies and municipal drainage system resulting in contamination of surrounding surface and ground water.
Railways had directed that water recycling plants be provided at locations where water is scarce. Tests revealed that 12 out of 17 zones had no provision of water recycling plants. The water recycling plants installed in three zones were sub-optimally utilised.
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