Railways to install bio-toilets on all new trains: Suresh Prabhu
The ‘Clean India’ campaign seems to be gaining momentum with ministries getting into action mode. Railways is in for a makeover with the phased introduction of bio-toilets in several parts of the country. Bio-toilets will be fitted on all new and existing trains to maintain cleanliness and hygiene, thereby giving a boost to the ‘Swach Bharat’ campaign.
By : migrator
Update: 2016-10-20 13:51 GMT
New Delhi
Following the launch of the green corridor track in south, the Railways has now replicated it in the west of the country. Till date, the Indian Railways have provided around 48,000 bio-toilets on about 14,000 passenger coaches.
“Bio-toilets will be fitted in all new and existing trains and all railway lines in due course will be made completely free from human excreta,” Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said at a function here to inaugurate the 175-km track of green train corridor. He gave the assurance that this initiative will cover the entire country soon.
A green corridor track is free from human waste, which had caused track corrosion. This is made possible by installation of bio-toilets on passenger trains.
The minister inaugurated the 141-km Okha-Kanalus route and the 34-km long Porbandar-Wansjaliya sections. The railways also fitted nearly 700 coaches of 29 trains with bio-toilets.
Dwelling on the installation challenges faced in passenger trains, Prabhu said: “It is quite easy to put new bio-toilets in the new trains but converting the old toilets into bio-toilets without affecting its running is the biggest challenge. We have also given the contract of building 85,000 bio-toilets in trains.”
The Railway Ministry says 14,000 bio-toilets have already been installed till date in 2016 and 16,000 more will be fitted on passenger trains by the end of this fiscal year.
Earlier on July 24, 2016, the 114-km Manamadurai-Rameswaram stretch of the Southern Railway became India’s first ‘green corridor’.
Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said the railways will soon have more green corridors in the coming years. “These stretches were selected as there were very few trains on these routes, we will also launch green corridor on the busiest routes soon,” he said.
Subsequently, the 78-km Jammu-Katra section would be taken up in the programme. It would be completed by March 2017.
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