Indian Railways has decided to install bio-toilets across train 68,000 as a part of “Swachh Rail- Swachh Bharat” initiative. In a statement, Indian Railways said, “A total of 49,487 bio-toilets have been installed in 14,916 coaches during 2019-20. This takes the cumulative number of bio-toilets to more than 2,45,400 fitted in 68,800 coaches with a coverage of 100 per cent.”
This decision is taken at the time when the country is battling against novel Coronavirus. Hygiene and Sanitisation are important precautions against it.
Integrated mechanised cleaning is also being provided at 953 railway stations pan India.
1,100+ trains like Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Duronto and other long-distance trains have been equipped with Onboard House Keeping Service (OBHS) for cleaning the toilets, aisles, seats, doorways of the coaches. This service is supported by SMS based “Coach-Mitra” to cover over 1060 trains.
Indian Railways is also planning to install Plastic Bottle Crushing Machines (PBCM) by the zonal railways and Automatic Coach Washing Plants at eight stations with a quick watering facility at 29 locations.
“At present, around 315 PBCMs have been installed at 229 stations including several district headquarters railway stations,” the statement said.
