Indian Railways has taken a decision to take significant steps to maintain cleanliness in all trains.
In a statement, the Railway Ministry said, “Maintaining cleanliness in coaches and stations is a continuous process and (we) are making every endeavour to keep the coaches including toilets in properly maintained and in clean condition.”
So, let’s have a look at some of the major steps that Railway Ministry has taken to maintain cleanliness on trains:
1) The ministry has ensured that train coaches are cleaned at both ends using the mechanised cleaning.
2) Around 980 trains including Shatabdi Express, Rajdhani Express, and many other important long-distance trains have been equipped with On Board Housekeeping Service (OBHS) which would ensure that all coach toilets, aisles, doorways, and passenger compartments are clean during the journey.
3) A facility named as the ‘Coach Mitra’ is available on another 800 trains. It is a single window platform which registers all coach related requirements.
4) To maintain hygiene during journeys, the bed linen (except blanket) given in the AC coaches are washed after every single use. Once a month the blankets are also washed.
5) 59 mechanised laundries have also been set up which will improve the quality of washing of bed linen and timely delivery.
Now, let’s check out the major steps that Railway Ministry has taken to maintain cleanliness on tracks:
1) Indian Railways has decided to install bio-toilets in coaches which ensures that the human waste is not at all discharged on the tracks.
2) Until March 2018 around 1,25,000 bio-toilets were fitted by the railways.
3) The Railway Ministry has also claimed that the most number of bio-toilets were installed during 2017-18, which is 40% higher than the target of 40,000 bio-toilets.
4) The national carrier has 27 sections as Green Corridors and those trains are equipped with bio-toilets.
