The rail track has traditionally been the “target” for defecation. Not only the conventional toilets on trains allow discharge of excreta but also people use the space along the track for open defecation.
Even while the Centre and the States, together with local bodies, are trying to eliminate the bigger problem of open defecation, the Railways have, in recent years, been able to install the right type of bio-toilets in coaches.
Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation along with the Railways, the bio-toilets ensure that human waste does not fall on the track, says a senior official here.
Human waste discharged into the toilets is acted upon by a colony of anaerobic bacteria that convert the waste mainly into water and small amount of gases. While the gases escape into the atmosphere, the water is discharged after chlorination onto the track. At present, in Southern Railway, 470 coaches, accounting for seven per cent of the total strength, have been fitted with these toilets. The authorities have nominated trains, including the Chennai-Madurai Pandian Express, for installing the facility. In every coach of these trains, one or two or even four bio-toilets will be fitted. In eight years, the plan is to cover all the trains across the country.
