Indian Railways is expanding its green footprint. Wanting to do away with stinky toilets and waste that causes environmental damage and track corrosion, it is looking to replace them with odourless bio-toilets.

The Railway Minister, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, who announced a slew of green measures while presenting the Rail Budget in Lok Sabha, said that, besides bio-toilets, solar-powered lights and green trains will be part of the scheme. We are committed to protecting our environment. The year 2011-12 was declared as the ‘Year of Green Energy' by the Railways.

At least 2,500 coaches will be equipped with bio-toilets. The proposed toilet system has been developed by the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation), he said.

An estimated two million passengers use train toilets daily, wasting huge amounts of water and creating massive hygiene problems, with 2,74,000 litres of waste being dumped on the rail-tracks each day. Track corrosion costs the Railways more than Rs 350 crore every year.

Also on the anvil is the setting up of 72-MW capacity windmill plants in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Mr Trivedi has also proposed the setting up of 200 remote railway stations as “green energy stations,” powered entirely by solar energy. Solar lighting systems will also be used at 1,000 manned level crossing gates. He said mobile emission test cards will be introduced to measure the pollution level of diesel locomotives.

Two bio-diesel plants will come up at Raipur and Tondiarpet. A green train will run through the pristine forests of North Bengal. And SMSes on mobile phones will be treated as valid proof of reservation, thus saving paper.

> bindu.menon@thehindu.co.in

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