Throwing trash on the railway tracks will now land citizens in jail, with the Central Railway (CR) authorities and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) stepping up their efforts to clean up the tracks.

The RPF is also serving notices to citizens living in hutments by the tracks, warning them of punishment if they throw rubbish on or around the rail lines. This is a good initiative and it must have enough teeth to punish violators, especially repeat offenders. The fines must hurt and certainly the jail term should act as a very strong deterrent to flouting this rule.