Achieving a mammoth task, Indian Railways installs bio toilets in more than 68,000 coaches

Accomplishing a mammoth task as part of its "Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat" initiative, the Indian Railways have been successful in installing bio-toilets in more than 68,000 passenger coaches so far, thus preventing the discharge of human waste on tracks. 

"A total of 49,487 bio-toilets have been installed in 14,916 coaches during 2019-20. This takes the cumulative number of bio-toilets to more than 2,45,400 fitted in 68,800 coaches with a coverage of 100 percent," the Indian Railways said in a statement.

READ | Unlock 1: Tirumala Likely To See Footfall Of Only 7,000 People A Day From June 11

Bio toilets not only prevent direct discharge of human waste on track, but they also enable a clean and green environment on platforms and stations while facilitating improvement in track maintenance and cleaner bogie components of the coach.

As the nation is grappling with the COVID-19 crisis, Railway's installation of bio-toilets is a welcome move as hygiene becomes eminent under such circumstances to battle the pandemic.

The national transporter has also stepped up its activities to move towards bio-vacuum toilets which save water. These toilets have a suction pump that reduces the requirement of water. Most vacuum systems flush with just half a gallon (2 litres) of fluid or less compared to bio-toilets, which require up to 15 litres per flush.

READ | 'China Using Opportunity To Take Over Global Institutions Amid COVID': Vijay Gokhale

About 15 trains already have the bio-vacuum toilets installed and efforts are on to install them across all trains. The Indian Railways have also issued policy guidelines for installation of plastic bottle crushing machines (PBCMs) by the zonal railways.

More than 1,100 trains, including Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto and other important long-distance trains have been equipped with the facility of Onboard House Keeping Service (OBHS) for cleaning of coach toilets, doorways, aisles and passenger compartments during the running of the trains. 

Automatic coach washing plants (ACWP) have also been installed in 127 major stations, in which a coach can be washed with just 40 litres of water by the automatic washing system instead of 1500 litres consumed manually. Besides, quick watering facilities have been installed at 29 locations to reduce water filling time at the stations.

READ | Twitter Blocks Amul After 'Exit The Dragon?' Topical About China; Restores Later

READ | Maharashtra CM Meets NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar After Visiting Cyclone-hit Raigad