New Delhi: Seeking to provide a clean and eco-friendly travel to passengers, railways is planning to eliminate direct discharge type toilets from its entire fleet of passenger coaches and replacing the system with bio-toilets by the end of 2021-22.

Railways is envisaging to eliminate direct discharge toilet system from its entire fleet of passenger coaches by the end of 2012-12, the national transporter has said in a recent report to National Human Rights Commission.

Railways has assured the NHRC that it is making sincere efforts to overcome the problem of falling of human waste from train toilets on rail tracks.

The prevailing open discharge of human waste on tracks is not only corroding the rails, it is becoming a serious environment hazard for the railways.

According to a senior railway ministry official, corrosion costs railways over Rs.350 crore every year.

Continuing its efforts to provide a clean and eco-friendly travel to train passengers, railways has expedited the work of fitting bio-toilets in coaches with over 2,000 of them already installed so far. Railways have about 50,000 coaches.

Railways have installed bio-toilets in 2774 coaches till December 2013. The toilets have been fitted in Sleeper and AC coaches of premier and mail/express trains.

The green toilets not only prevent discharge of excrement on tracks and maintain cleanliness but will also help do away with manual scavenging.

The new-age green toilets have been designed by Railways along with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) keeping in mind the requirements of Indian trains.

The bio-toilets are fitted underneath the lavatories and the human waste discharged into them is acted upon by a particular kind of bacteria that converts human waste into non-corrosive neutral water.