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CHAPTER VII GARDENS & PLANTATIONS, DISPOSAL OF GRASS AND OTHER NATURAL PRODUCTS A. GARDENS AND PLANTATIONS 701 Role of Engineering Staff: The Engineering Department is responsible for tree plantation and maintenance of horticulture in common areas in stations, colonies, offices, community parks etc. Staff of other departments should also be encouraged to associate in these activities. 702 Planning for Plantation For systematic plantation, each Division should prepare 'tree planting plan' for every subdivision and plantation work should be carried out accordingly. On all construction projects, bulk afforestation of suitable variety should be done in vacant land as an environmental improvement measure. Provision for this should be invariably made in the estimate. For new colonies/townships, assistance of specialised agencies may be taken for landscaping. 703 Nursery Nurseries wherever feasible may be maintained to cater to the requirements of the railway establishments. The resources of Forest Department and nurseries in the public/ private sector may be tapped to meet the requirements of the railway. 704 Planting and Care of Young Trees a) Sites for plantation should be so selected that when the trees grow up they do not interfere with telegraph wires or obstruct the view around curves or of station signals or of level crossings. When planting, it should be seen that the roots are not exposed to sun more than necessary. Water should be fed to the young tree daily until it is strongly rooted, the top surface of the soil being broken up about once a week. At way side stations where Engineering staff is not posted, daily watering may be entrusted to station staff. b) Soon after planting, the young tree should be supported firmly with a strong and straight bamboo or stake about 3 metres in height and the trunk tied to the stake by means of a cord over sackcloth. A tree-guard or protection should be fixed around it. The tops should be allowed to grow up to a height of 3 metres. When side shoots appear, four or five strong ones should be saved at different levels on the trunk above the 3m stake (to prevent forking). When the top leaders have grown fully they should be pruned moderately to cause them to branch out and produce a bushy top. The tree-guard should be removed when the tree has been firmly established and there is no risk of molestation by goats or cattle. c) Tree-guards may be made economically, from thorns or bricks; old bitumen drums with holes punched in them could be used with advantage where the hot weather is not too intense, otherwise they retain heat and shrivel up the young plants. 705 Maintenance of Gardens in Offices, Rest Houses and Colonies (a) The responsibility of maintaining hedges, lawns and shrubberies attached to offices, rest houses and playgrounds and in colonies in a satisfactory condition devolves on the garden staff attached to the division/ district. Where such gardens are small, the watchman should maintain them in a satisfactory state. b) The Section Engineer (Works) should pay requisite attention to the cleanliness of rest house compounds and upkeep of gardens. Shrubs and seedlings should be obtained when required from the divisional/district nursery.
706 Maintenance Railway premises occupied by Officers and Senior Supervisors should be kept in a neat and tidy condition. Gardens within compounds should be maintained to a satisfactory standard. 707 Incidence of Service Where hedges and lawns in bungalows are maintained by the railway, the incidence of service should generally be as follows, with variations as necessitated by climatic conditions being allowed for:-
C. SALE OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 709 (a) By Auction or By Tender The natural products on railway land should be sold by public auction or by tender and the sale proceeds credited to railway revenues. The auction of grass, dead or dying trees, rights for the collection of produce of fruit trees, tapping of date-trees for toddy (subject to Local Government's permission) and fishing in railway tanks, shall be conducted by the Assistant Engineer about one month before the commencement of the season. The products of fruit-bearing trees in the compound of residential quarters can be enjoyed by the residents, but the products cannot be sold. (b) To State Forest Corporations etc. The matured trees can also be sold to State Government agencies like Forest Development Corporations on the approved rates. (c) Division of lots : Schedules of lots in convenient lengths for each kind of natural product to be sold, should be prepared by Section Engineer (Works/P.Way) and submitted to the Divisional Engineer through AEN. 710 Fixing of Reserve Price of Lots- Reserve price for each lot to be sold by auction should be fixed by the Divisional Engineer in consultation with the Accounts Officer. If there are any special circumstances, which are likely to affect the value of the lots, these should be brought to the notice of the Divisional Engineer beforehand to enable him to fix reserve price. In fixing reserve price, the Divisional Engineer in consultation with Assistant Engineer will-take into account previous year's sales and such other relevant factors as pertaining to the quality and quantity of produce of relevant year. 711 Auction or Tender Notices And Agreement Auction/tender notices in Hindi, English and regional language should be pasted at least a fortnight in advance, at stations and at places where they can be seen by prospective purchasers/bidders. Auction notices should show (i) the date, time and place of auction, (ii) full particulars of the products or rights to be sold, (iii) that the successful bidder shall deposit the full amount of sale and sign an agreement immediately after the bidding is closed and (iv) reserve prices of lots to be auctioned. Sealed tenders on prescribed forms for sale of natural products may, alternatively, be invited by the Divisional Engineer and agreements entered into. 712 Recording & Finalisation of Bids- All bids made at the auction should be recorded. The highest bid should be accepted if it is not less than the reserve price fixed by the Divisional Engineer, unless there are definite reasons for not doing so. In such a case these reasons should be- recorded in the bid list before closing the auction.
b) After closing the auction, the full amount of the bid should be collected from the successful bidder who should sign an agreement on the prescribed form. The products or rights may then be handed over forthwith to the successful bidder. Receipt for the amount collected should be given and the money remitted to the Railway immediately with full details. d) After the sale by auction is over, the bidders' list and the agreement duly executed by the party should be submitted to the Divisional Engineer for ratification. Certified copies of the agreement should then be issued by the Divisional Engineer's office to the party, the Assistant Engineer and the Inspector. The original agreement should be sent to the Accounts Department for record. e) After the advice is given to the successful bidder regarding the acceptance, the. responsibility for watching the products or "rights" passes over to him. The Railway shall not be liable to any loss or damage from theft, fire or any other cause, whatsoever. Agreements should provide for this. f) When there is a tie at an auction and a railway servant happens to be one of the bidders, his offer shall be given preference. If the bidders happen to be railway servants, the offer of the employee with longer service shall be accepted. Engineer should take into account the 'locus-standi' of the bidders concerned. 713 Register of Sales of Natural Products A register in manuscript form shall be maintained in the Divisional Engineer's office section-wise with complete particulars of sales affected and entries made therein, as and when necessary, initialled by the Divisional Engineer. 714 Licensing of Tanks and Borrow Pits for Pisiculture For licensing the borrow pits and tanks for pisiculture, preferences shall be given to co-operative societies formed by railway employees. The period of such licensing can be from 1 to 5 years and the licence fee is to be fixed on merits in consultation with FA & CAO. D. FELLING OF TREES 715 Felling of trees obstructing view (a) Trees and bushes that interfere or tend to interfere with the view from a train, of signals or level crossings or along the insides of curves, shall be cut. When cut, it should be ensured that they do not foul the track. (i) Trees may be reduced in height by lopping the top branches to obviate danger of obstruction. (ii) Branches on the track side may only be removed, leaving those on the side remote from the track, thus rendering it impossible for the tree to fall across the track. (b) When a group of trees is to be felled, each tree should be carefully marked, identified, classified and measured. Tenders may be invited for the felling and purchase of timber of such lots of trees, stipulating a time limit for the felling and removal from railway land of each lot. When inviting tenders, the classification and size of trees need not be quoted, the tender being in respect of a certain number of marked trees only, at the specified kilometrage. (c) Joint Survey : Annually, joint survey of the trees should be carried out by Junior Scale Officers of Engineering, S &T, Electrical Department etc. and trees which are likely to endanger safety of track should be identified and felled/lopped as may be considered necessary. A report should be sent to the Divisional Engineer and Divisional Safety Officer. 716 Felling Outside Railway Limits When trees and bushes which interfere with the view of signals or level crossings are on private land, steps to clear the obstructions should be taken as laid down in section 14 of the Indian Railways Act 1989. 717 Felling in Compound of Staff Quarters Trees in compounds of railway bungalows or staff quarters should not be felled nor any branches lopped except with the permission of the Assistant Engineer. 718 Felling Near Electrical or Telegraph Wires Trees in close proximity to electrical or communication lines should not be cut nor the branches lopped except in the presence of staff of the Electrical or Telegraph Department as the case may be. 1) No new plantation of trees by the State Forest Departments may be permitted unless they enter into a written agreement with the Railways along with a jointly signed plan indicating the areas permitted .for plantation. Minor modifications to suite the situational need may be made in the proforma prescribed by the Railway Board, but for any important modification, the Railway Board may be referred. 2) The Agreement should take into account the Indian Forest Act and should have sufficient safeguards so that the Railways title on the land is not diluted and the Railwaymen are freely permitted to enter the forest and take action for safe operation of the train services. Trees should be planted in accordance with Para 704 of this manual. In addition other guidelines in the agreement with the Forest Department may be followed.
The above information should be collected and entered in a tree register maintained for this purpose by Section Engineer (Works /P.Way) in-charge. The information with regard to number of trees planted, cut and perished have to be maintained in another Register. A consolidated information is required to be sent to the Railway Board by 30th April, every year. 721 Harvesting of Matured Trees - The Railways undertake extensive plantation of trees on their land every year. Besides increasing the green cover over the land, with all its attendant benefits, this is also a source for earning revenue when these trees reach maturity. Planting of tree saplings and harvesting of mature trees should be a continuous process with the number of tree saplings planted on the Railway exceeding the target set by the Board for this purpose. This figure should also be atleast double of the number of mature trees harvested on the Railway. As per the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, a mature tree, in commercial terms, is one which has reached an age where it gives the maximum economical outturn of timber. This shall be dependent on the specie of tree expected to be harvested. 722 Maintenance by Private Parties - Where the private parties are willing to maintain the gardens, the railway may accept such proposals, judiciously deciding the terms and conditions. 723 Training of Staff The malis and supervisors should be trained using facilities available with state government institutions or elsewhere. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||