New Delhi: Indian Railway tracks across the country, especially at railway stations, which earlier used to give off stench from the human waste and made passengers cringe, will be history, as the national carrier is going to be open defecation free in next few months by installing bio-toilets in all the rail coaches.
In an interview with ETV Bharat, V. K. Yadav, Chairman Railway Board said that the national transporter will achieve the target of becoming ODF by next year as only five per cent of the rail coaches are left with the traditional toilets.
"Out of 70,000 coaches, only 2,362 are left to be installed with the bio-toilets and in next few months we will be able to become open defecation free," Yadav said on the sidelines of the release of the cleanliness report of the stations here.
The Chairman said that about 95 per cent of coaches have been fitted with bio-toilets and we have also come over the issues of choking and other problems that we faced initially. And now we are able to maintain the bio-toilets at a good level.
He said, "We are working on bio vacuum toilets. We have developed a new technology in collaboration with the RDSO (Research Design and Standards Organisation) which will be bio-toilet cum vacuum toilet."
According to railway ministry, the smooth functioning of toilets is very essential for Indian Railways as some train journey lasts for 30 to 40 hours.
To a question over the testing of the bio vacuum toilets last year in over 100 trains, he said, "The results were very good. There were some teething troubles which were rectified. So in the coming days, we will install the bio-vacuum toilets in the new coaches."
According to the railway officials, these bio-vacuum toilets are odour-free and cut down water usage by over one-20th. In bio-toilets, the water requirement per flushing is up to 15 litres. And the water doesn't generate enough pressure to discharge the waste from the pots, resulting in a foul smell and blockage of the pot. While the bio-vacuum toilet only requires about half a litre of water and all the waste is cleared through suction.
To a question over the railway's plans on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Chairman said, "in last five years railways has improved the services under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'. Railways have also adopted 'Swachh Rail, Swacch Bharat' to promote the campaign."
Yadav said that railways brought 'Swachh Bharat pakhwada' adopted in railways since September 16 this year, "and over 18 lakh railway employees and their family members, students and several NGOs participated in the 'Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat' campaign".
"Today on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we have tried our best to clean the areas near the railway premises and also took the pledge to stop the usage of single-use plastic. We won't allow the use of plastic in railways and will do its safe disposal," Yadav said.
Yadav also said that the railways has installed the plastic crushing machines at several stations and in train coaches to crush the plastic bottles.
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