Indian Railways’ big achievement towards sanitation; Equips all passenger coaches with bio-toilets
As many as 73,078 passenger train coaches have been fitted with 2,58,906 bio toilets.
Bio-Toilets in Indian Railways: In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission of Swacch Bharat, Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways has fulfilled the pledge of bio toilets in passenger trains. According to the national transporter, 100 per cent of passenger coaches have been fitted with bio toilets. This has ensured that no human waste is discharged from coaches of passenger trains on rail tracks. With this effort of the Railway Ministry, around 2,74,000 litres per day of excreta on rail tracks are being avoided. Indian Railway had said that with this move, human waste led corrosion of rails and fittings costing an amount of Rs 400 crore per annum, is also avoided. As many as 73,078 passenger train coaches have been fitted with 2,58,906 bio toilets.
Further, the national transporter has planned to supplement the existing system of bio toilet with vaccum flushing system toilet (bio vaccum toilets), which substantially reduces the requirement of water for flushing, while ensuring effective flushing of fecal matter from the pans. According to Indian Railways, bio vaccum toilets have been provided in a total of 1,372 LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches and also, it has been decided to provide bio vaccum toilets in air-conditioned LHB train coaches. Besides, sanctions for 8,500 coaches are also available, Indian Railways said.
Earlier, the Railway Ministry had said that the Indian Railways Bio-Toilet project is an innovative and indigenous development of technology. According to the ministry, this technology is a first of its kind, that has been used by any rail road in the world for on-board accelerated digestion of human waste. The bio toilets’ technology has been innovated, designed and developed under the Modi government’s ‘Made in India’ initiative. It has been created jointly by Indian Railways’ engineers and Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) scientists. The adaption and deployment of the bio toilet technology in large scale has been facilitated by collaboration between RDSO, DRDO and Indian Railways’ field units.
