Indian trains to have green toilets by 2017

New Delhi : India seems to be finally waking up to the need for having bio-toilets instead of dumping excreta directly on to tracks which is a shame .

The ministry of rural development has offered to fit all new railway coaches with DRDO built bio-toilets  besides retrofitting all existing 50,000 coaches with green toilets in the next five years , the union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said .

Ramesh said the whole project will cost about Rs 500 crore  and offered to share the burden on a 50-50 basis with the railways.

He said, at present only 9 trains with 436 coaches are fitted with bio-toilets, while 4,000 coaches are produced annually which could be fitted with new bio-toilets.

The measure will not only prevent the corrosion of tracks but will also provide odourless toilets to passengers. At present waste is dumped directly on to the tracks because of the existing toilet system in trains.

Many passengers ignore requests to not use toilets when trains halt. Apart from the unbearable stench it creates, the practice leads to clogging of rail lines at busy stations.
Ramesh has also requested the railways to run Nirmal Bharat Express on the model of Red Ribbon Express to spread the message of cleanliness and sanitation.