For the first time, Indian Railways is all set to launch the trail run of vacuum toilets from Monday. The vacuum toilet has been installed in the Dibrugarh Rajdhani train in the first AC compartment. Indian Railways has taken the initiative to fit such environment-friendly toilets in the trains and platforms as it consumes minimum water, is easy to maintain, has no untidy mess, no stinking smell and is easy to clean.
Nearly Rs 300,000 has been spent to set up this toilet which also has a bio-digestive system. The railway authority plans to fit a vacuum toilet at the New Delhi railway station. As per the project, the railway authorities intend to fit around 80 vacuum toilets in the Shatabdi Express. A tender of Rs 25 crore was announced to fit such environment-friendly toilets. According to the officials, companies from Germany, USA, Denmark and Spain have shown a keen interest in the tender.
Vacuum toilets are the ones that use suction to eliminate the waste with minimum usage of water. Till now, such toilets have been installed only in aircrafts. If used efficiently, vacuum toilets can be quite beneficial for the railways. Currently, many passengers, especially women travelers, avoid travelling in trains due to poor maintenance of toilets. Use of flush is minimal as in some of the trains it does not work or people avoid its use. The stinking smell from the toilets is intolerable.
Besides, there is no dustbin in the toilets of many trains and this makes people throw waste on the tracks. It is mandatory to educate the travelers about the necessity of using flush and maintaining the toilet to sustain hygiene. Besides, vacuum toilets will prevent waste on the railway tracks leading to cleanliness and easy maintenance.