by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Markets, Technology
By Arun Kumar Das,
New Delhi : Railways will try Japanese technology in bio-toilets, which is different from those being used here, at a few selected stations as a pilot project to ascertain its efficiency in the Indian system.
While one Japanese bio-toilet is already operational at Madgaon station in Konkan railway route, two more such toilets will be installed in the capital and Varanasi stations. Japan will give 150 bio-toilets for free as per the pilot project and all these will be installed at various stations and not in trains.
The use of Japanese technology for bio-toilets will depend upon the results of the pilot project, said the official.
Japanese bio-toilet technology is different from the ones used on Indian Railways. It is based on sawdust and special churning system to decompose the faecal matters in toilet tank, while the Indian technology depends on bacteria-driven process.
The national transporter is addressing the biggest complaint that passengers have with its trains and stations — toilets. The public transporter has faced public criticism for stinking toilets, especially in long-distance trains.
A Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report in 2017 states that foul smell was found emanating from as many as 223 bio-toilets. Inspection indicated a problem with the flushing system and inadequate water supply.
Smooth functioning of toilets is very essential for Indian Railways as some train journey lasts for 30 to 40 hours.Besides, Indian Railways also plans to test hybrid toilets — bio-vacs — which are bio-toilets with the vacuum flush facility. It is procuring 2,000 bio-vacuum hybrid toilets for 500 coaches and will scale up depending on the response.
Vacuum system reduces use of water considerably in flushing of toilets.
Keeping the toilets glitch-free is a constant struggle for the Railways, with the loos being choked with litter, plastic bottles, sanitary napkins and other inorganic waste.
The Railways aims to complete the installation of bio-toilets in all coaches by March 2019. The bio toilets were fitted first in new coaches and then retrofitted in the old ones. This is done at railway workshops in Mumbai’s Parel, Bhopal and Jhansi.
Railways has set a high target of installing 90,000 bio-toilets in 22,500 coaches in the current fiscal.
(Arun Kumar Das is Delhi-based freelance journalist. He can be reached at akdas2005@gmail.com )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz
By Arun Kumar Das,
New Delhi : The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation is gearing up to set up more than 100 railway stations and terminals — all of them “specially designed” — along the 3,360-km-long, much-delayed network linking the eastern and western seaboards to the northern heartland.
Besides, the dedicated freight corridor, known as DFC, will have as many as 12 private freight terminals, 15 private sidings and 10 goods sheds to cater to over 300 million tonnes of traffic a year from 2020-21.
Designs of these new DFC buildings will be influenced by local culture and architecture so that they become iconic structures of the area’s skyline, a senior official of the Corporation said.
“Special care has been taken that all the station buildings reflect the heritage of the region,” the official told IANS, not wishing to be identified.
Passing through nine states and 60 districts, the Rs 81,459 crore project will have 48 stations and junctions along the Western DFC and 58 in the Eastern DFC.
While the Western DFC will cover 1,504 km from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust near Navi Mumbai to Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, traversing through Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Phulera-Rewari, the Eastern DFC covers 1,856 km from Ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni, near Kolkata in West Bengal, and will traverse the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
“Many private players have shown interest to build multi-modal logistics parks and terminals along the corridor to facilitate value addition — including packaging, labelling, retailing and transportation of goods on the dedicated route,” the official said.
All the newly-designed station buildings are expected to be ready before the corridor becomes operational in 2020-21.
There is a focus on station buildings as economic activities get a boost around the rail stations and terminals.
The Western DFC — a section of which (between Ateli in Haryana and Phulera in Rajasthan) opened for a trial run on August 15 — is expected to largely carry petroleum products, imported fertilisers and coal besides steel and iron among others in double-stack containers.
According to initial estimate, Western DFC will carry about 152.24 milliion tonnes (MT) of goods in 2020-21.
The Eastern DFC aims to speed up the movement of coal, cement, fertilisers, foodgrain and general goods, among others. The expected traffic on the Eastern DFC is 153.23 MT in 2020-21.
The Western and Eastern DFCs — both of which will be fully electrified — will intersect at Dadri, near Delhi.
Also, in a first for Indian Railways, there will be a time table for freight trains once the DFCs are operational.
The eastern wing of the DFC is being funded by the World Bank and western side is being financed by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, or JICA.
(Arun Kumar Das can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
Mumbai : The Central Railway is on way to install energy-saving LED lights at all its 438 stations by March 2018, and exploit solar and wind power in a big way to cut on electricity bills, an official said here on Saturday.
The CR and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd have signed an agreement wherein the latter will invest Rs 30 crore on the project, CR Spokesperson Sunil Udasi said.
While 250 stations have already switched over from the conventional to LED lighting, the remaining 188 will be provided LED lights by March next, he added.
As for EESL’s investments, the CR will repay it in instalments from savings accruing from lesser energy bills and retaining a part of the amount in five years, making it a win-win situation for both organisations.
The EESL will replace defective fittings and equipment, due to which annual energy savings are estimated to be 1.4 crore units, saving Rs 13.14 crore in the process.
Prioritising energy conservation and reducing energy bills, besides adopting green sources of energy, the CR has already installed 28 solar power generation plants with a total capacity of 924 kWp.
Ten plants are in Mumbai, including at Matunga workshop, nine in Solapur, and three each in Pune, Nagpur, and Bhusawal in Maharashtra.
Additionally, wind-cum-solar energy plants have been set up at eight locations with a total capacity of 44 kWp.
Independent solar plants have come up at several small stations, level crossings and street lights at 953 locations with a total capacity of 49 kWp.
The plants at Sanpada’s EMU POH Shop and Matunga Workshop, both in Mumbai, have a capacity of 1,000 kWp each and are in various stages of implementation.
“Once completed, they are expected to generate around 25 lakh units per annum. Additionally, a total of 11.335 MWp plants at 118 locations of CR are expected to be completed by July 2018 in collaboration with the Railway Energy Management Company Ltd,” Udasi said.
This would generate 142 lakh units per annum and help further slash energy bills of CR considerably.
—IANS
