Train with bio-toilets chugs in

The 24-coach green train with bacteria-eating bio-toilets finally arrived in Mumbai this week. The Varanasi-Mumbai train with bio-toilet technology, jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and railways, arrived from Rail Coach Factory earlier this week.

The train aims at zero defecation on the ground and the waste is eaten by bacteria and converted into gas and water.

Part of the project by the railways to improve hygiene standards in and around tracks and station area, the toilets are designed keeping in mind Indian needs like long-distance travel and toilet habits.

“Currently, train toilets are of direct discharge type. As the number of trains increases, open discharge of waste grows into a bigger problem, with human waste from trains leading to track corrosion and making it difficult for gangmen to walk them for repairs,’’ a senior official said.

Till March 2012, the Indian Railways have set a target to turn out five rakes with 300 bio-toilets by Rail Coach Factory and former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi mentioned so in his rail budget speech too.

Controlled discharge toilet system fitted in some CR trains discharges waste only after train acquires speed more than 30 kmph.

A senior official said the retention tanks in train’s toilets will store the waste empty it at terminal stations into sewage lines, not dropping the waste all along the tracks. The solid and liquid waste will be separated in the tank, while liquid will be recycled and used, a bacteria will disintegrate the solid waste.