NEW DELHI: The
railways will add money to your mobile phone wallet if you use
plastic bottle crushing machines installed at stations as part of efforts to promote PM Modi’s initiative of junking single-use plastic. In his Independence Day speech, Modi had appealed to the nation to eliminate single-use plastic and find alternatives to plastic water bottles on a priority basis.
The railways has issued directions that from October 2, the birth anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi, no single-use plastic will be used in its premises. Railway board chairman V K Yadav has said the railways will install 400 bottle crushing machines at stations. A passenger wanting to use them will have to key in his phone number into the machine and his phone will be recharged.
Currently, 160 bottle crushing machines are available at 128 stations, he said. He also said that instructions have been given to railway staff to collect all the used plastic bottles at railway stations and send them for recycling.