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Bio-toilets in rail coaches by 2019

Last Updated 11 August 2016, 19:11 IST

The Ministry of Railways will complete its project of providing discharge-free toilets in all its coaches by 2019.

 The Railways has already provided 43,000  bio-toilets and will provide another 27,000 by the end of this year.

“With provision of bio-toilets in all its coaches, discharge of human waste from trains to the ground will be completely stopped, which in turn will help improve cleanliness and hygiene,” said a railway official.

To provide hygienic environment to passengers and to keep station premises/tracks clean, the Railways has developed environment-friendly bio-toilets for its passenger coaches. The technology has been developed jointly by the Indian Railways and the Defence Research & Development Organisation. This environment-friendly and low-cost technology is the first of its kind in  the world. In the bio-toilet-fitted coaches, human waste is collected in tanks below the toilets and the same is decomposed by a consortium of bacteria.

The Railways has selected important tourist routes for making the green corridor- free of human waste discharge from trains.

Rameswaram-Manamadurai (114 km) was identified for the green-train corridor project.
Accordingly, 10 passenger trains consisting of 286 coaches moving over this section have been provided with bio-toilets. This section was formally inaugurated as a green train corridor. 

Panel for gradual increase in train fare

A parliamentary panel has recommended “periodic” increase in train fare, DHNS reports from New Delhi.

In its report, the Convention Committee has recommended a system of marginal increase on a regular basis. The committee has suggested that it should be based on the “feedback of various stakeholders” and “public opinion”. The suggestion has come in the wake of the Railways’ attempt to become competitive to the road sector so far as its freight charges are concerned.

 The committee headed by Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Bhartruhari Mahtab tabled its report in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. It has expressed its “serious concern” over the loss the Railways is incurring in passenger services over the years, which at present stands at approximately Rs 28,000 crore.

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(Published 11 August 2016, 19:11 IST)

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