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As bio-toilets clog, Railways turns to vacuum toilets in 13 trains
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SME Times News Bureau | 16 Apr, 2018
With its much-touted bio-toilets proving less than reliable, Indian
Railways is turning to vacuum toilets for 13 premier trains, including
the Howrah Rajdhani, Goa Rajdhani, Amritsar Swarn Shatabdi and
Bandra-Patna Humsafar.
The bio-toilets, which replaced open
toilets in trains, have been prone to clogging due to dumping of waste
such as bottles, pouches, plastic cups, paper and other material in the
pans -- resulting in foul smell.
"We are beginning with the
procurement of 2,000 vacuum toilets for 13 trains -- and later many more
trains will have this facility," said a senior Railway Ministry
official.
All coaches of the Bandra-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Special,
Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express, Bandra-Ghazipur City Express, Mumbai
Veraval Express, Dibrugarh Rajdhani, Kaifiyat Express, Vivek Express,
Kolkata-Ghazipur City Express, Ananya Express and Poorva Express will
now have vacuum toilets - the kind that are operational in aircraft.
All new Humasafar Express trains will also be equipped with vacuum toilets, said the official.
The
vacuum toilet will have a bio-digester to convert the waste into water
and a suction pump that sucks out waste without need for much water to
flush it.
"This will help contain the foul smell as well as reduce the use of water," said the official.
Typically, a bio-toilet uses 10-15 litres of water per flush, whereas the vacuum toilet consumes only about half a litre.
Trials of vacuum toilets were carried out in the newly-launched premium train Tejas. Now it will be installed 13 more trains.
The
vacuum toilet costs about Rs 2.5 lakh, but the price will come down
with the procurement of more such toilets, said the official.
Meanwhile,
the Railways has also tried to address the choking issue of bio-toilets
by changing the shape of the pipes below the pan.
Earlier,
there was a "P-trap shape" which has been replaced with an "S-trap pipe"
which seems to be more effective in prevent clogging, the official
said.
There is a need for greater awareness among passengers
about not throwing any material into bio-toilets so that they can
function without choking, he added.
As part of the Prime
Minister's Swachh Bharat Mission, Indian Railways had announced its aim
of converting the entire rail route in the country into a discharge-free
zone. The installation of bio-toilets in its entire coach fleet was
part of this mission.
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