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 big way,” said another railway official.
The official said the railways is making new coaches and also working towards improving the condition of existing ones.
Former railway board chairman R K Singh praised the drive, calling it a good step towards maintaining hygiene and sanitation. “Though it has taken a long time, but once fully implemented, the cleanliness on tracks and overall on trains will improve.” bean and to obtain visa-free travel access to 130 or so countries, which an Antiguan passport provides for.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi have been accused by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) of defrauding the stateowned Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the tune of ~14,000 crore in the issuance of Letters of Undertaking and Foreign Letters of Credit.
Both Choksi and Modi left India in the first week of January and have not returned despite summons from the CBI and the ED.