Bio-Toilets in Indian Railways: First of its kind in any railways
Childhood memories are the best and stay in our grey cells forever. One of such fond memories was travelling with my family in Indian Railways every summers. Come summer vacations in the month of May - June every year and the entire family packed bags to Punjab, the land of five rivers, where my roots belonged. The Indian Railways are the only affordable medium of transport for the middle class families in India. It not only saves their hard earned money but also connects different states, languages, cultures, foods and hearts too.
Travelling a journey of 1700 km was not only tiring but fun too. As a child I ran into acquaintances and explored the coach. The first time I saw an open toilet in the train, I was scared. Not because it was big for me but it was open. I could see the pebbles on the tracks running at high speed. Yes, it is unbelievable but true. The open toilet ran over the railway tracks from one end of the country to the other, giving an equal opportunity to every individual to leave a mark of its own.
There was no other alternative to curb the menace until recently the Indian Railways came with a solution in the form of an initiative called “Bio-Toilets”.The “bio-toilets” in Indian Railways is first of its kind being used by any railways in the world. The major objective is to provide clean and improved toilets.
How it works?
The human discharge is acted by anaerobic bacteria which breaks down the human excreta into water and small amount of bio-gases (Methane and Carbon dioxide).The waste water is later discharged after chlorination.
It is claimed by the Indian Railways that this initiative will help to maintain cleanliness and hygiene on platforms. No human waste will be discharged on the tracks and to ensure efficiency and better work environment to maintenance staff.
According to Indian Railways, approximately 4,000 MT of human waste is discharged daily from train coaches. With the introduction of this new “Bio-Toilet” technology about 60% of direct human discharge on train tracks has been eliminated. This success also depends on the Indian passengers co-operation in not throwing in-organic waste materials like bottles, napkins, polythene, paper cups, cigarette or bidi buds etc in toilet commode.
So far Indian Railways have installed a record number of 1.25 lakhs bio-toilets on trains. These ensure that there is no discharge of human waste on the tracks. So the next time you travel in Indian Railways do not forget to peep in the toilet and feel proud of one of the best convenience.
Trivia:
Indian Railways has 115,000 km of track length. It runs 12,617 trains to carry over 23 million passengers daily – equivalent to moving the entire population of Australia – connecting more than 7,172 stations.
Harpal Singh
#ConnectWritingChallenge #IndianRailways
Tagging to my friends, colleagues & well wishers:
@ambrishvarshney , @TravellerG , @BorrisS , Umeshkumarmehra , @sinbadss15 , @Pohand22 , @SuzanneN , @RajievR , @Dinakar1 , @Kavita1 , @katydarhel , @Sahilmsk2208 , @sonnyNg , @ermest , @KatyaL , @PoliMC , @MoniDi
