SCR initiative: Trains to have bio-toilets

Hyderabad, May 17 (INN): In tune with the eco-friendly / green initiatives of South Central Railway and after successful trial of 48 Bio-Toilets fitted to the 17 Coaches being run on Hyderabad-Mumbai Hussain Sagar Express and Kacheguda-Bangalore Express, South Central Railway is expanding the same to other trains also by procuring 200 Bio-Toilets within few months.

Bio-Toilet was developed jointly by Railway Research and Standard Organisation (RDSO) and Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE) for use in Indian Railways and the same is under trial in many of the Zonal Railways.

South Central Railway took a lead in the trial and put the Bio-Toilets into regular use in the trains towards strengthening cleanliness in Railway premises in an eco-friendly manner.

The conventional toilets in the trains, by allowing night soil to fall on the track, cause unhygienic conditions and corrosion to track and coach fittings endangering the safety.

Passengers use toilets while trains are at platforms and the track get scattered with human excreta creating unpleasant situation for passenger on the platforms.

Maintaining the cleanliness at railway stations, especially the tracks at stations, is found to be a challenging task for railways in the face of ban on the use of Safaiwalas and absence of RCC Apron below the track at some stations.

Track maintenance staff also has to face difficult situation while on duty. But, with the advent of Bio-Toilet, Railways has found an answer to this vexatious problem which is mainly due to letting the night soil from train toilets to fall on the track.

With simple design, less maintenance and easier RETRO fitment on existing coaches, the environmental friendly Bio-Toilet will ensure zero discharge of night soil on the ground.

This arrangement will be of great help in adding to the tidy environment and hygienic conditions of the railway stations and track en-route. Thus, Bio-Toilets are not only environment friendly but also will contribute to preventing damage to track / coach fittings and improving the aesthetics of railway stations.

The Bio-Toilet, which has six compartments, uses Inoculums (Bacteria) to decompose the night soil. The night soil from commode enters in to the Bio-Tank, where the inoculums are stored, get decomposed by the bacteria and the decomposed human soil will next enter into Chlorine Tank and to get purified.

Finally the output will be just water and gas. Bio-Toilets with provision to replenish Inoculums and Chlorine will be easy to maintain. This toilet will get chocked and go out of order if passengers dump bottles, plastic carry bags, cups, napkins etc into the it via commode.

It will cause choking of the toilet making it un-usable and becomes difficult for the maintenance staff to clean the same. Hence, Passengers are advised not to dump any garbage / litter items in Bio-Toilet units.