Indian Railways looks to upgrade toilets with modular fittings, but this age-old feature will remain
Even as Indian Railways looks to upgrade toilets on trains, one feature that will continue to be seen is chain-secured mugs! Indian Railways is installing several modular fittings in train toilets – from touchless taps to odour-control systems and high-quality soap dispensers. But, along with the new ‘health faucets’ that are being put in toilets, the age-old metal mug secured with a chain will continue to be there, states an HT report. As per the official data, toilet mugs are among the items which are frequently stolen from trains. The mugs were among the Rs 2.97 crore worth property, that the Railway Protection Force recovered in 2017-18 with other items including blankets, bed linen, ceiling fans, shower heads and iron grilles.
A railway ministry official that Financial Express Online spoke to said that the chained mugs will be there as a back-up option for train passengers, as now health faucets are also being stolen. According to an official quoted in the report, one of the main focus areas of the national transporter is the upgradation of toilets on trains.
The national transporter is gearing up to install 80,000 bio-toilets in 2018-19. Until March 2018, around 125,000 bio-toilets have already been installed on trains. The official informed that the Indian Railways has covered 34,500 of the 55,000 coaches with bio-toilets and to complete the project, around 80,000 bio-toilets will be installed this year.
At present, 27 sections are being operated by the national transporter as part of green corridors under which all trains are equipped with bio-toilets. In order to reduce consumption of water, the railways is also testing airline like bio vacuum toilets.
The train toilets are being upgraded under many initiatives by Indian Railways such as Project Utkrisht, Operation Swarn etc. Under the upgradation, the big issue of stinking toilets is also being addressed. Some of the ways by which the railways is tackling the issue are by developing aircraft-like toilets, by providing better ventilation in toilets, providing modular FRP toilets and preventing toilet choking.