Chained mugs...

About 125,000 bio-toilets have already been installed on trains until March 2018, according to information given by the government in Parliament on in April. The entire process had started in January 2011 when 57 bio toilets were fitted on Gwalior-varanasi Bundelkhand Express.

“Till, March we have covered 34,500 of the 55,000 coaches with bio toilets. About 80,000 bio toilets will be installed this year to finish the project,” the official said. The railways had installed 15,000 biotoilets in 2015-16, 34,000 in 2016-17 and 56,000 in 2017-18, he said.

A bio-toilet decomposes human waste using bacteria and converts it into methane and water while health faucets are hand-held devices designed to save water. The faucets have triggered nozzles like a hand shower for cleaning after toilet use.

The official said bio toilets require a lot of maintenance. “We have facilities for bio-toilet maintenance at every depot. If people use them correctly, they will not require regular maintenance. For this, we will have an information guide in every coach,” the officer said.

The Indian railway is now operating 27 sections as part of green corridors under which all trains are equipped with bio-toilets. There is no direct discharge of human waste from these trains running in the corridor. The railway is testing airline like bio vacuum toilets to reduce consumption of water.

“We are conducting a trial on 500 coaches and will monitor it for six months. If performance is good, then we intend to move in a