The Hidden Cost of Greenwashing The Indian Railways. The Hindu Editorial Explanation 17th December 2024.

Introduction

The article talks about how the Indian Railways is planning to send six old diesel locomotives to African countries. These locomotives will be modified to work on narrower tracks, called Cape Gauge, used in African railways. India has spare diesel locomotives as it is electrifying the Indian Railways.

A locomotive is the engine of a train. It is the machine that pulls or pushes the train’s coaches (passenger cars) or wagons (freight cars) along the tracks. Locomotives can be powered in different ways, such as using diesel fuel, electricity, or even steam in older trains.

In India, they originally ran on broader tracks. While this move to reuse old locomotives is a good engineering effort, it also highlights a larger problem. India now has hundreds of diesel locomotives that are lying unused because the government is pushing for full railway electrification very quickly.

Electrifying Indian Railways

The government says electrifying the entire railway network will save money by reducing diesel imports and will help protect the environment.

However, the article explains why these claims are not as effective as they appear. The Indian Railways use a very small amount of diesel compared to other sectors.

In fact, Railways only account for about 2% of the country’s total diesel consumption. Trucks, on the other hand, use 28%, and farming uses about 13%. This means that even if the Railways stop using diesel completely, the overall impact on diesel consumption in India will be very small.

The environmental benefit of electrification is also questionable. In India, nearly half of the electricity is produced by burning coal, which is one of the most polluting fuels.

So, even though electric trains do not burn diesel directly, they still rely on coal-based electricity.

This shifts the pollution from the railway tracks to the power plants where coal is burned. At the same time, the Railways earn a large part of their income by transporting coal to these power plants, which adds to the irony.

Wastage of Diesel Locomotives

The article also points out the wastage of diesel locomotives. As of March 2023, around 585 diesel locomotives were sitting idle in different parts of the country. This number has now increased to about 760.

Many of these locomotives are still in good condition and have more than 15 years of life left in them. If they were lined up, they would stretch for about 16 kilometers.

Despite their value and usefulness, these locomotives are being abandoned early because of the rush to electrify the railway system. This leads to a huge waste of resources and taxpayer money.

What’s even more confusing is that, despite pushing for 100% electrification, the Railways still plan to keep many diesel locomotives. Around 2,500 diesel locomotives will be kept for emergencies and special needs.

Another 1,000 diesel locomotives will continue to run for a few years to handle regular traffic. This raises the question: if diesel locomotives are still needed, why is there so much hurry to electrify the network?

Conclusion

The article points out that the government’s goal of full electrification seems rushed and poorly planned.

It has caused perfectly good diesel locomotives to be wasted and does not achieve the promised benefits of saving diesel or reducing pollution.

Since electricity in India still largely comes from coal, pollution remains a problem. Instead of rushing into big projects for the sake of announcements, the article suggests the government should take a more practical and careful approach to avoid wasting resources and money.

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