The Indian Railways has been focusing on maintaining cleanliness and hygienic conditions in trains with its initiative called “Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat.” In a recently released statement from the railway authorities, bio-toilets have been installed in more than 68,000 train coaches.
“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 percent,” the Indian Railways said in a statement.
The initiative has picked pace during the current time of coronavirus pandemic wherein hygiene and cleanliness has become a major concern in order to prevent the further spread of the virus. Around 953 railways stations are being provided with integrated mechanized cleaning across pan India.
The railway authorities are focusing both on the cleanliness as well as the sustainability factor. In order to maintain sustainability, the authorities are focusing on the installation of plastic bottle crushing machines at the stations. Further, Automatic coach washing plants (ACWP) at eight locations as well as a quick watering facility at 29 locations have been installed.
“At present, around 315 PBCMs have been installed at 229 stations including several district headquarters railway stations,” the statement said.
The Indian Railways has introduced a facility of Onboard House Keeping Service (OBHS) for more than 1100 pairs of trains including Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronot. The OBHS department shall be responsible for the cleaning of coach toilets, doorways, aisles, and passenger compartments.