Notwithstanding the Indian Railways observing Swachhata Pakhwada every year, South Western Railway’s Subrahmanya Road Railway Station officials were found to be attempting to dump unsegregated waste in trenches dug in the Railway premises on Wednesday. The station is a major gateway to the famed Kukke Subrahmanya Temple.

“After the issue (of not disposing off the waste) came to our notice in March, we have been communicating to the Station officers and even the Divisional Railway Manger’s office about the need to handover dry waste to the Gram Panchayat,” the Panchayat Development Officer of Bilinele Gram Panchayat in Kadaba taluk told The Hindu.

Prior to that, according to Kukke Shree Subrahmanya Rail Commuters and Development Committee President Prasad K. G., the station officials used to get the dry waste burnt on the Railway premises at regular intervals. When it was flagged off, they stopped burning the dry waste, leading to its accumulation on the station premises, thereby creating nuisance to passengers and the general public. He alleged that despite getting adequate grants for maintaining cleanliness, the station officials deployed only one person to collect and ‘burn’ the dry waste.

In his complaint to Bilinele Gram Panchayat and to the Zilla Panchayat on Wednesday, Mr. Prasad said that the station officials have been stacking the mixed waste in waste collection bags near the station premises for over two months. While foul smell was emanating since long, the situation is getting aggravated with the onset of monsoon, he said. He charged the Railways of attempting to dispose off the mix waste into a trench dug near the Running Room of the Station.

Kadaba Taluk Panchayat Executive Officer (additional charge) H. Naveen Kumar Bhandary, who visited the station on Wednesday following directions from Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat CEO Narwade Vinayak Karbhari, said he has clearly told the Railways to handover dry waste to the GP, which in turn would be processed at the material recovery facility. “We cannot take wet waste as there was no processing facility,” he added.

System in two days

SWR’s Mysuru Divisional Railway Manager Mudit Mittal told The Hindu that the issue has come to his notice. A proper system of waste disposal would in place at Subrahmanya Road Railway Station within two days, he said.