Visakhapatnam: Bio-toilets initiative get big boost in East Coast Railway
Bacterial generation plant has been set in East Coast Railway for bio-toilets in trains.
Visakhapatnam: The bio-toilet initiative will get a boost as in the East Coast Railway zone will set up a plant to generate bacteria being used in the bio-toilets. The zone is dependent on the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior, for the bacteria that help to degrade the excreta.
According to sources in the East Coast Railway, a plant would be installed to generate the bacteria by December this year with a capacity of 27,000 litres per month.
The Waltair division of the East Coast Railway has introduced it for green trains and a total of 259 coaches of various trains originating from Visakhapatnam have been fitted with bio-toilets.
As many as 509 out of 2,200 coaches are already fitted with bio-toilets and 600 more to be fitted this year in the East Coast Railway zone.
In the bio-toilet system, the excreta is collected in a tank, which is divided into two chambers. The first chamber contains a patented bacterial culture that breaks down waste in six-seven days by enzyme action. The resulting liquid is led into the second section where it is treated with chlorine before disposal to ensure zero-defecation on to the ground and prevents damage to the track due to corrosion.
Bio-toilets are being fitted by Mancheswar (Odisha) workshop and coaching depots in Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar and Puri. Trains connecting religious and tourist destinations are being given first priority for the bio-toilets facility.
This fiscal plan the target is to make green trains in six rakes Puri Okha/Ahmedabad, Puri-Rameswaram/Tirupati/Chennai.
The ECoR has been fitted bio-toilets in nine trains so far. These are Bhubaneswar, Rameshwaram, Bhubaneswar, Puduchery, Bhubaneswar, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar-Pune, Vishakhapatnam (VSKP)-LTT Express, VSKP-Durg passenger, VSKP-Gandhidham Express, VSKP-Amritsar Hirakud Express and Puri-Okha Express.