Imagine yourself sitting next to a senior government figure on an airplane. How would you respond?
This wasn’t simply a hypothetical inquiry; for Akshay Satnaliwala, it was a fantastic chance. West Bengali businessman Akshay Satnaliwala took advantage of this unique chance on a February 2 journey from Delhi to Kolkata.
Running a solid waste management company, Satnaliwala wrote a business proposal on tissue paper while on the same flight as Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. He was able to present his creative proposal to the minister in spite of the restrictions imposed by strict security and flying procedure.
His scheme? to assist the Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan and the environment by using trains to move rubbish to locations where it may be recycled.
Satnaliwala wrote on the tissue paper, “Dear sir, I represent M/S Eastern Organic Fertilizer Pvt Ltd, which is one of the largest solid waste management companies in the state of West Bengal,” running out of ink, first in blue and then in black.
“Sir, if you allow, I would like to present how railways can be an integral part of our Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan and the supply chain of AFR (alternative fuel and raw material) to cement plants,” he continued.
In a letter to the minister, Satnaliwala contended that his company was the first in the nation to use a railway rake to transport plastic garbage, sending 3,500 metric tonnes in a single shipment from the ER’s Chitpur railway siding to a cement mill in Rajgangpur in July 2022.
To Satnaliwala’s surprise, he got a call from the Eastern Railway General Manager’s office a few minutes after landing, which set up a meeting with Milind K Deouskar, the Eastern Railway General Manager, on February 6.
The topic of discussion at the meeting, which was attended by senior officials, was whether or not railroads could be a more affordable means of transportation for moving waste, including solid waste.
