New Delhi: The Rail Bhawan, which houses the headquarters of the Indian Railways, will remain shut for two days from 14 July to carry out intensive sanitisation after some officials were found Covid-19 positive in the premises.
A circular said, “Some Officials of Railway Board have tested Covid-positive during the Special Rapid Antigen Testing Camp organized at Rail Bhawan on 9 July , 10 and 13 July. Accordingly, it has been decided to close all Offices at Rail Bhawan 14 and 15 July to carry out intensive sanitization of rooms and common areas.”
It added that during this period, all officers, staff would work from home and are to be available at all times on the phone and other electronic means of communication.
The Railways has set a target of going completely green by becoming a ‘net zero’ carbon emitter by 2030 through various initiatives. These include electrification of broad gauge, improving energy efficiency and switching to renewable sources.
The national transporter has also set a target of electrification of all routes on broad gauge by December 2023. It said: “Railway electrification, improving energy efficiency of locomotives and trains and fixed installations, green certification for installations/stations, fitting bio-toilets in coaches and switching to renewable sources of energy are parts of its strategy of achieving net zero carbon emission.”
According to a statement, the Railways has completed electrification of more than 40,000 Route Kilometres (RKM) (63 per cent of Broad Gauge (BG) routes). It said 18,605 km electrification work has been done during 2014-20 compared to 3,835 km in 2009-14. It said 365 km major connectivity work has been commissioned even during the Covid period.