Indian Railways has been running ‘muck special’ trains daily in Mumbai from June 2018 to collect garbage from stations and along tracks of its suburban networks. Little did social workers and Magsaysay Award winners Prakash Baba Amte and his wife Mandakini Amte know that this initiative of Indian Railways would help them win Rs 25 lakh on Kaun Banega Crorepati season 10! Last night, while playing KBC 10 for a charity cause, the two won Rs 25 lakh and the final question that got them this amount was about this Indian Railways special train.
During KBC 10, hosted by veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan, the couple were asked what do the special trains by Indian Railways, that have been running daily since June 2018 in Mumbai, collect? The options were garbage, milk, lunch boxes and leftover food. Incidentally both Prakash Baba Amte and his wife Mandakini Amte did not know the answer to this question and used their lifeline – Audience poll. 48% of the audience voted for garbage as the answer, but not convinced, they sought the help of their ‘jodidaar’, who told them to choose the option ‘garbage’. The correct answer helped them win Rs 25 lakh for charity.
So, what are these muck special trains? As part of Modi government’s Swachh Bharat initiative, Indian Railways has been running muck special trains to keep tracks and stations clean. While these trains have been in service for some years now, in the last year or so, Indian Railways has stepped up their frequency to deal with the menace of litter on tracks and stations. Since June 2018, both Central and Western Railway divisions of Indian Railways have been running these muck special trains daily to collect garbage during the wee hours of the morning.
“We have muck special trains that run on the suburban Mumbai network from 12:30 AM to 4:00 AM in the morning everyday. That is the time when the Mumbai local services do not run and the line is free for this special train to ply. The train collects garbage from the stations and at specific points along the tracks where dumps have been made,” a Central Railway official told Financial Express Online. Western Railway too runs several muck special trains daily during the hours that the suburban network is closed for passengers. “Additionally we also run muck special trains during traffic block periods on weekends. This helps us keep tracks cleaner on weekends as well,” a Western Railway official told FE Online.
According to a June PTI report, between April 2017 and March 2018, Central Railway disposed as much as 94,000 cubic metres of garbage and the Western Railway disposed off 75,000 cubic metres garbage since it started monsoon preparation work in April this year.