Prayagraj: North Central Railway (NCR) has introduced a coach-to-coach mobile dustbin system at Prayagraj Junction and Kanpur Central to prevent train passengers from throwing garbage on platforms from windows.The initiative, implemented under Railway Board’s Special Campaign 6.0 and in compliance with the directions of NCR general manager Naresh Pal Singh, aims at maintaining cleanliness at major stations.Under the new system, Swachhta Mitras equipped with wheeled mobile dustbins, or ‘wheel dustbins’, are deployed along trains as soon as they arrive at the platform. They move from coach to coach, particularly covering sleeper and general coaches, and collect waste directly from passengers through the windows. The system is intended to ensure that garbage does not reach the platform in the first place.CPRO, NCR, Dr Shivam Sharma said, “Throwing waste from coach windows had been a persistent challenge at busy stations, with passengers often disposing of bottles, food packets and other waste on the platform while trains were standing.” The new arrangement has led to a noticeable reduction in such littering at Prayagraj Junction and has also received appreciation from passengers, he added.The facility has initially been introduced on an experimental basis at Prayagraj Junction and Kanpur Central, covering five selected long-distance trains at each station every day. NCR plans to extend the system to other important stations in the zone, including Agra Cantt, Gwalior, Jhansi, Mathura, Aligarh, Etawah and Mirzapur, said Dr Sharma.Alongside the mobile dustbin initiative, NCR has introduced source-level segregation of waste at Prayagraj Junction. Instead of transporting mixed waste generated during cleaning to a common collection point, railway sanitation workers are segregating it at source into four categories — dry, wet, sanitary and domestic hazardous waste.The official further said that the segregation would make scientific disposal and recycling easier while reducing the quantity of mixed waste reaching collection points. The initiative is also aimed at facilitating compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, and supporting NCR’s goal of developing Prayagraj Junction as a zero-waste station.Dr Sharma said both practices had been successfully implemented at Prayagraj Junction as part of Special Campaign 6.0, with the focus on ensuring that cleanliness was maintained not merely through periodic drives but as a regular station-management practice.
