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Railways Mull Rs 6,250 Cr Replacement To Flawed Bio-Toilets–After Spending Rs 1,620 Cr

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IndiaSpend Team, June 18, 2018
Mumbai: Having spent nearly Rs 1,370 crore on 136,985 railway bio-toilets–criticised for being “no better than septic tanks”–and after earmarking Rs 250 crore to install bio-toilets on remaining trains by March 2019, the railway ministry is now considering “upgraded” vacuum bio-toilets at a cost of Rs 6,250 crore.

“We have started experimenting with vacuum bio-toilets like those in an aeroplane,” Railway Minister Piyush Goyal told PTI. “Some 500 vacuum bio-toilets have been ordered and once the experiment is successful, I am willing to spend money to replace all the 2.5 lakh toilets in the trains with vacuum bio-toilets.”

Vacuum toilets, which cost around Rs 2.5 lakh per unit, will be odour-free, will cut down water use by 1/20th and have fewer chances of getting blocked, he added.

This takes the cost to Rs 6,250 crore.

In addition, vacuum toilets will need to be emptied and cleaned in rail yards.

As of May 31, 136,965 bio-toilets have been fitted in 37,411 coaches, at a cost of around Rs 1 lakh per toilet, according to railway ministry officials quoted by the PTI. This brings the expenditure to about Rs 1,370 crore.

There is a plan to install bio-toilets in around 18,750 more coaches by March 2019, when all the coaches of the Indian Railways will be fitted with such toilets, costing the national transporter around Rs 250 crore, the PTI release added.

The technology–and the criticism

Indian Railways are often described as the world’s biggest toilet: They eject around 3,980 tonnes of faecal matter–the equivalent of 497 truck-loads (at 8 tonnes per truck)–onto rail tracks every day, according to a report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2013.

Bio-toilets are small-scale sewage-treatment systems beneath the toilet seat: Bacteria in a compost chamber digest human excreta, leaving behind water and methane. Only the water, disinfected later, is let out on the tracks. That’s how they were supposed to work.

But, signs of failure came early.

In 2007, an experts committee headed by Vinod Tare, a professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, had concluded that bio-toilets developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) were not workable. “Yet, the Indian Railways went ahead with the decision to proliferate this model,” Tare told IndiaSpend in this January 7, 2018, interview.

Sanitation experts and various studies–including commissioned by the railways–have pointed out that most of the new “bio-toilets” on Indian trains are ineffective or ill maintained and the water discharged no better than raw sewage, as IndiaSpend reported on November 23, 2017.

Lokendra Singh, former director of the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), had, after an expedition to Antarctica, brought home psychrophilic bacteria that can survive in extremely low temperatures. The bacteria were mixed with cow dung and normal soil, which have methogens (microorganisms that produce methane) capable of breaking down human excreta. This was then supplied to the manufacturers of rail bio-digesters.

Singh’s claims of a scientific breakthrough were questioned: The bacterium did not have independent third-party certification, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) did not have a patent for the design and manufacture of bio-toilets, and once the tank is filled, human excreta is allowed to drop down onto the tracks.

A December 2017 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on these bio-toilets echoed the findings of our November 2017 investigation into their widespread malfunctioning: The CAG found 199,689 defects in 25,000 toilets. Some major issues were:

Highest number of problems/ defects (41,111) found at the Bengaluru coaching depot, followed by Gorakhpur (24,495) and Wadi Bunder (22,521);
Complaints per bio-toilet were highest at the Bengaluru coaching deport (98), followed by Wadi Bunder (32), Rameshwaram (28) and Gwalior (17);
Of the 102,792 instances of choking, 10,098 (10%) cases reported in March 2017;
Of the 102,792 cases of choking in 25,080 bio-toilets, the highest (34%) were reported from Bengaluru. This implied that one bio-toilet got choked 83 times a year;
Choking incidents have risen from 2015-16: One bio-toilet got choked four times a year during 2016-17.

Responding to the CAG findings, the railway ministry said its criticism was “not correct” and that “some problems of choking were occurring on account of misuse of toilets by passengers”. An official note from December 20, 2017, said: “These issues are being dealt with promptly.”

The denial

The railways ministry responded to our November 2017 investigation, pointing out what it calls “factual inaccuracies” and a lack of “technological understanding”. We had published the rejoinder verbatim, with our response:

The ministry said the IIT Madras study was conducted “on stationary toilets on selected 15 field installed units and 6 units installed at IIT Madras Campus with bio-digesters based on DRDO technology”, and not on railway coaches. “There is absolutely no difference,” professor Ligy Philip of IIT Madras had told us. “The same technology and the same bacteria is being used for both the land-based and the train bio-digesters.”
“It is not correct to say that bio-toilets in coaches are ineffective or ill-maintained,” the ministry said, adding that periodic tests are conducted to ensure that the discharged water meets specific norms. However, agenda papers of a Railway Board meeting in October 2017 showed that bio-toilets have not passed the performance tests.
“DRDE has more than a dozen national and foreign patents not only on the basic technology but also on the bio-digester fitted in railway coaches,” the ministry said. However, the patent is for engineering and septic tank design. There is no mention on the use of the Antarctica bacteria to aid the bio-digestion process.
The ministry said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the DRDO in March 2010. However, the patent for engineering and septic tank design was awarded in 2015–five years after the MoU for supply of bio-toilets was signed.

The policy U-turn

As a possible solution, IndiaSpend had offered the ‘zero-discharge toilets’ developed by IIT Kanpur.

“IIT Kanpur developed ‘zero-discharge toilets’ which have a separator to segregate the solid matter of human excreta from the liquid portion,” Tare, the professor, told us. “The liquid portion, after treatment, can be used for flushing, while the solid waste can be evacuated at junctions with the aid of assembly suction pumps. Human excreta–mixed with cow dung–could subsequently be used for vermi-composting.”

The railway ministry rejected this solution saying the system “involves installation of ground handling facility to evacuate retention tanks at the terminals”.

“This involves huge infrastructure cost, man-power, terminals are landlocked, inter- track distance is not uniform everywhere,” the ministry said. “Whereas, in IR-DRDO system, waste is treated on-board itself and thus no ground infrastructure is required. Thus, IR-DRDO bio-toilets being proliferated over IR, is a better solution.”

Vacuum toilets, such as those used in aeroplanes, as we said, will need evacuation facilities and treatment plants–which will come at an additional cost to the Rs 6,250 crore likely to be spent on replacing the bio-toilets.

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RTI – Railway- bacteria from low temperature areas in India were acclimatized

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To                                                                                                        20th December 2017

Shri  RAKESH  KUMAR

D.D. (PG) &  C.P.I.O.

(Registration & Coordination)

R.No 05, RTI Cell / RB

Railway Board, New Delhi -110001

Hello,

Kindly provide me with the following information requested under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 in respect of IR’s para-wise reply to Article titled “New Toilets In Indian Trains No Better than Septic Tanks: IIT Study” published in India Spend dated 23rd November, 2017. At para number 11 of the rejoinder, in reply it has been stated that instead bacteria from low temperature areas in India were acclimatized to low temperature and the bacterial species which had compromised activity at low temperature were supplemented (bioaugmentation) with selected group of bacteria isolated from lake sediment samples brought from Antarctica.

  1. Copy of patent If any applied for acclimatization process developed by DRDO, submitted to you by DRDO or  any other related documents,  which supported your statement  in reply of para 11.
  2. Kindly provide me a certified copy of safety certifications obtained from environmental agencies and bio safety agencies if you made them acclimatized through gene manipulation or any genetic engineering methods before releasing such bacteria into environment.

 

Regards

Prabhu Dayal Dandriyal

21-Sunderwala, Raipur, Dehradun-248008

Phone – 0135- 2787750, Mobile- 9411114879,

e-mail id prabhudoon@gmail.com  website – www.corruptionindrdo.com

Registration Number      MORLY/R/2017/54482

IR’s para-wise reply to Article titled “New Toilets In Indian Trains No Better than Septic Tanks: IIT Study” published in India Spend dated 23rd November, 2017

11. Lokendra Singh, former director of the DRDE, had, after an expedition to Antarctica, brought home psychrophilic bacteria that can survive in extremely low temperatures. The bacteria were mixed with cowdung and normal soil, which have methogens (micro-organisms that produce methane) capable of breaking down human excreta. This was then supplied to the manufacturers of rail bio-digesters. 11.  It is not true that all the bacteria involved in biodegradation process were brought from Antarctica. Instead bacteria from low temperature areas in India were acclimatized to low temperature and the bacterial species which had compromised activity at low temperature were supplemented (bioaugmentation) with selected group of bacteria isolated from lake sediment samples brought from Antarctica.

The basic microbiological and biochemical steps involved in bio-digester, gobar gas plant and septic tank are similar except that septic tank does not have methanogens instead lower fatty acids get converted into H2S gas by employing sulphate reducing bacteria. Another difference is that inoculum is not added to the septic tank whereas bio-digester is seeded initially with a known anaerobic microbial consortium. The major difference in bacterial composition used in bio-digester and other technologies is that bacteria are more efficient and work in wider temperature range including low temperature (cold active bacteria and not psychrophiles as reported in the news)
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New toilets in trains no better than septic tanks: IIT-M study

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Srinand Jha, November 23, 2017 IndiaSpend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new kind of toilet using bacteria to break down human excreta has been deployed in Indian trains over four years to 2017, at a cost of Rs 1,305 crore, but this toilet is no better than a septic tank, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, has concluded after a two-year long study.

As many as 93,537 “bio-digesters”–as the toilets are called–have been installed in mainline express and mail trains by the Indian Railways. These are small-scale sewage-treatment systems beneath the toilet seat: Bacteria in a compost chamber digest human excreta, leaving behind water and methane. Only the water, disinfected later, is let out on the tracks.

That is how it is supposed to work.

However, sanitation experts and various studies–including commissioned by the railways–have pointed out that most of the new “bio-toilets” on Indian trains are ineffective or ill maintained and the water discharged no better than raw sewage.

“Our tests have found that the organic matter (human waste) collecting in the bio-digesters do not undergo any kind of treatment,” IIT professor Ligy Philip, who headed the latest study, told IndiaSpend. “Like in the septic tanks, these bio-digesters accumulate slush (human excreta mixed with water).”

The IIT study on bio-toilets, shared exclusively with IndiaSpend, was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and submitted last week to the union ministry of urban affairs.

Despite the criticism, an additional 120,000 coaches are to be fitted with these bio-toilets, jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Railways, by December 2018. This is likely to cost Rs 1,200 crore, the railways revealed on November 2, 2017, in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request.

The bio-digester project in the Indian Railways began during the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. But the project has been speeded up under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign. The idea is to meet this target in time for the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary in 2019, said railway ministry spokesperson Anil Kumar Saxena. The Swachh Bharat campaign has been dedicated by PM Modi to Gandhi.

Indian Railways are often described as the world’s biggest toilet: It ejects around 3,980 tonnes of faecal matter–the equivalent of 497 truck-loads (at 8 tonnes per truck)–onto rail tracks every day, according to a report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2013.

The network has 9,000 passenger trains with 52,000 coaches with toilets that discharge human waste on to rail tracks. Covering 65,500 km across the country, these trains transport 24 million passengers every day, the equivalent of the population of Australia.

Since 1993, the Indian Railways have been experimenting with a host of technologies used worldwide to replace the open discharge system. This included vacuum toilets based on suction, commonly seen in aircraft; “controlled-discharge” toilet systems (CDTS) which allow waste to be dropped only after a train acquires a speed of 30 kmph, thus keeping stations clean; and “zero-discharge” toilets, in which solid waste is stored, evacuated and then dumped in pits for composting and the liquid filtered for recycling.

In 2008, the railways decided to install the bio-digester model developed by the Gwalior-based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE).

Responding to the criticism of the bio-toilet, government officials said that the flaws are being fixed. “The issues regarding the bio-digesters are of a minor nature and are being effectively addressed. Some changes (in design or execution strategies) are inevitable, as this is a continuous process,” said Saxena, the railway ministry spokesman.

Currently, there are nine units manufacturing these bio-toilets.

Questions raised about bacteria used in green toilets

Lokendra Singh, former director of the DRDE, had, after an expedition to Antarctica, brought home psychrophilic bacteria that can survive in extremely low temperatures. The bacteria were mixed with cow dung and normal soil, which have methogens (microorganisms that produce methane) capable of breaking down human excreta. This was then supplied to the manufacturers of rail bio-digesters.

“Because of the presence of a compound of bacteria, the bio-degradation process is set off in the toilet chambers–the bacteria eat up the organic matter (human excreta) and produce methane gas and water as byproducts,” Singh said.

The Indian Railways have also been toying with the idea of setting up two factories to mass produce this bacterium.

But Singh’s claims of a scientific breakthrough using the bacteria from Antarctica have been questioned on the following grounds:

The bacterium, Singh admitted, has not obtained an independent or a third-party certification from an organisation such as the UIC (Federation of European Railways);
The DRDO does not have a patent for the design or manufacture of these bio-toilets. A patent is necessary to market a commercial product. DRDO only has a patent for the design of “railway toilet tank”, as the organisation’s website reveals;
The railways do not maintain centralised data on the functioning of bio-digesters on parameters of effluent analysis, their charging or emptying locations;
These bio-toilets do not eliminate the problem entirely: Once the tank is filled, human excreta is allowed to drop down onto the tracks.
Three experts had flagged problems with bio-toilets

This is not the first time the railways’ bio toilet project has been criticised. A 2009 study jointly conducted by the Lucknow-based Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) and IIT Kanpur concluded that no treatment of human excreta was happening in the bio-digesters installed in railway toilets.

“We had found the discharge from these toilets as being no different from raw sewage,” said IIT professor Vinod Tare, who had headed the study, which the railway ministry has not made public.

On September 14, 2004, DRDO scientist Y Ashok Babu sent a letter to the then chief vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar, terming the bio toilets “farce (sic) technology”.

Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak–who had earlier been named the brand ambassador of the railways’ cleanliness mission–has also expressed serious reservations about the effectiveness of the “Antarctica bacteria” at a meeting with railway board officials in January 2016.

“I had recommended the use of removable steel tanks in train toilets and the installation of biogas digesters at the junctions,” Pathak said.

The bio-toilets had “more than 100% chance of getting choked”, said M Raghaviah, general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Railways, in an August 2015 letter sent to the Railway Board. “The carriage and wagons staff is routinely facing the inconvenience of cleaning up the choked tanks,” he said.

The DRDO bio-digesters were first installed at Siachen glacier in 2000 and subsequently at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the massive Hindu festival that marks a solar eclipse, in Allahabad. Recent news reports (such as this report in the New Indian Express) have pointed out that bio-toilets are malfunctioning in trains.

Singh rejected these allegations. “Frustrated scientists who have never worked on the project are raising such issues,” he said. “Of course, there are some problems but these are being addressed by the railways. Bio-digester manufacturers do not have previous experience. So, some problems are emerging but issues will shortly get sorted out.”

Singh, who has assumed charge as the chairman of the Digesters and Bio-Toilet Manufacturers Association (DBMA) after his retirement from DRDE this year, said questions of “conflict of interest” did not apply in his case, as he held only an “honorary position with the DBMA”.

Incumbent DRDE director DK Dubey refused to comment in the matter and a questionnaire emailed to him remained unanswered until the time of writing. DV Kamboj, project in-charge at DRDE, said he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Bio-toilets are often choked, broken or malfunctioning

Documents available with IndiaSpend suggest that there are serious issues with the bio-toilet venture. At a high-level meeting convened by the railway board on October 26, 2017, with functionaries from 17 zones, the following concerns were emphasised:

Bio-digester toilets were giving off an overpowering stench on account of the improper functioning of mechanical peripherals fitted in them;
Toilets were getting jammed often, not only because passengers were tossing bottles, cigarette butts, gutka (chewable tobacco mix) packets and soiled sanitary napkins into them but also because mechanical fixtures such as valves were non-functional;
Water pressure available for flushing in these toilets was inadequate (bio-digesters need 5 litres of water per flush);
Mounting and securing apparatus of the toilet tanks were faulty, leading to regular breakage of rubber connector and safety wires.
An internal review of bio digesters conducted for September 2017 on five divisions of the Northern Railway Zone indicated 10% failures on account of internal choking in the Delhi division of Northern Railways; 15.7% cases of clutch wire failures and 19.4% failures of lab samples testing.

Cost of manufacture, fitment has climbed from Rs 52,000 to over Rs 75,000

During the last three years of the second UPA government (2011-14), 9,350 bio-toilets were fitted in trains but the figure rose by 539%, to 59,735, in the first three years of the NDA government (2014-17).

In the current financial year (2017-18), 24,215 bio-toilets had been fitted until August 30, bringing the cumulative figure to 93,537, the railways said in the RTI reply of November 2, 2017.

In this period, the cost of manufacture and fitment of bio-toilets climbed from an average of Rs 52,000 per unit to over Rs 75,000 per unit. After the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), this cost burden has spiked further, with the railways having to absorb the 18% levy.

“Cost escalation is inevitable, as manufacturing costs have been rising,” said Manoj Jha of Faridabad-based Arkin Technologies that manufactures and supplies bio-digesters to the railways.

In response to an RTI appeal from Dehradun-based activist Prabhu Dandriyal, the railways stated that the Hubli workshop of South Western Railways had been supplied 2,152 toilets at a cost of over Rs 22 crore during the financial year 2016-17. Based on this calculation, the current cost being borne by the railways works out to more than Rs 100,000 per unit.

By the time the task is completed, the railways are likely to exceed their budget of Rs 1,200 crore for additional bio-toilets. Arvind Dethe, a bio-toilet manufacturer based in Akola in Maharashtra, has been selling a similar toilet at Rs 6,000.

“Everybody engaged with the plan is aware that the current bio-digester plan is unlikely to achieve the goal of providing an environment-friendly and sustainable solution,” a railway official said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media. “But officials are keeping quiet on account of pressure from the political leadership to fulfill the targets.”

As many as 95% of the bio-toilets fitted so far were faulty, claimed another official posted in the carriage and wagon department who did not wish to be named. His department is responsible for the maintenance of toilets.

DRDO scientist Ashok Babu, in his email of May 21, 2016, to then defence minister Manohar Parrikar, rubbished official claims about the bio-toilets, alleging that these were nothing but “gobar gas plants”.

“With basic training, a village mason can build such toilets,” he alleged. “The plan is being pushed by a nexus of officials and vendors.”

The railways have spent Rs 22 lakh on the repair of “faulty” bio-toilets in the Southern Railway zone alone, according to an October 10, 2017, RTI reply to Dandriyal, the Dehradun-based activist.

“Funds are not so much a constraint; but a bigger problem is that–on account of the business interests of the railways to run more and more trains–it becomes difficult to spare coaches for repair work,” said a railway ministry official who did not wish to be named. “Coaches with faulty toilets need to be marked ‘sick’ and moved to the nearest of the 29 workshops of the Indian Railways for repair. But the time and luxury for such things is not easily available with the Indian Railways.”

Railways now looking at vacuum toilets

Confronting “irresolvable issues” on the non-functioning of the DRDO toilets, the Indian Railways have begun exploring other options including the procurement of the vacuum toilets commonly used in aircraft or trains in western countries.

The Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has already floated a global tender to acquire vacuum toilets. “To begin with, these will be fitted in premier trains including the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and the Durontos,” a ministry official said.

Singh said that the idea was to develop “hybrid toilets” by fitting vacuum toilets atop the bio-digesters already installed. “Subsequently, lavatories will mainly have vacuum toilets, with just one big bio-digester installed in half portion of the guard’s cabin at the end of the train,” the official said.

This policy U-turn means not only that has time and money invested in the bio-digesters has been wasted but also that the railways will now need to pump in more funds to execute its green toilets plan

 

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New toilets in trains no better than septic tanks: IIT-M study

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By Srinand Jha The Economics Times, Nov 23, 2017
A new kind of toilet using bacteria to break down human excreta has been deployed in Indian trains over four years to 2017, at a cost of Rs 1,305 crore, but this toilet is no better than a septic tank, the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has concluded after a two-year long study.
As many as 93,537 “bio-digesters” — as the toilets are called –have been installed in mainline express and mail trains by the Indian Railways. These are small-scale sewage-treatment systems beneath the toilet seat: Bacteria in a compost chamber digests human excreta, leaving behind water and methane. Only the water, disinfected later, is let out on the tracks.
However, sanitation experts and various studies — including those commissioned by the railways — have pointed out that most of the new “” are ineffective or ill maintained and the water discharged is no better than raw sewage.
“Our tests have found that the organic matter (human waste) collecting in the bio-digesters do not undergo any kind of treatment,” IIT professor Ligy Philip, who headed the latest study, told IndiaSpend. “Like in the septic tanks, these bio-digesters accumulate slush (human excreta mixed with water).”
The IIT-M study was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and submitted last week to the Union Ministry of Urban Affairs.
Despite the criticism, an additional 120,000 coaches are to be fitted with these bio-toilets, jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Railways, by December 2018. This is likely to cost Rs 1,200 crore, the railways revealed on November 2, in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request.
The bio-digester project began during the previous United Progressive Alliance regime. But the project has been speeded up under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat campaign. The idea is to meet this target in time for the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th
Indian Railways is often described as the world’s biggest toilet: It ejects around 3,980 tonnes of faecal matter — the equivalent of 497 truck-loads — onto rail tracks every day, according to a report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2013.
The network has 9,000 passenger trains with 52,000 coaches with toilets that discharge human waste on to rail tracks. Covering 65,500 km across the country, these trains transport 24 million passengers every day, the equivalent of the population of Australia.
Since 1993, the Indian Railways have been experimenting with a host of technologies used worldwide to replace the open discharge system. This included vacuum toilets based on suction, commonly seen in aircraft; “controlled-discharge” toilet systems (CDTS) which allow waste to be dropped only after a train acquires a speed of 30 kmph, thus keeping stations clean; and “zero-discharge” toilets, in which solid waste is stored, evacuated and then dumped in pits for composting and the liquid filtered for recycling.
In 2008, the railways decided to install the bio-digester model developed by the Gwalior-based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE).
Responding to the criticism of the bio-toilet, government officials said that the flaws are being fixed. “The issues regarding the bio-digesters are of a minor nature and are being effectively addressed. Some changes (in design or execution strategies) are inevitable, as this is a continuous process,” said Saxena.
Lokendra Singh, former director of the DRDE, had, after an expedition to Antarctica, brought home psychrophilic bacteria that can survive in extremely low temperatures. The bacteria were mixed with cow dung and normal soil, which have methogens (micro-organisms that produce methane) capable of breaking down human excreta. This was then supplied to the manufacturers of rail bio-digesters
“Because of the presence of a compound of bacteria, the bio-degradation process is set off in the toilet chambers-the bacteria eat up the organic matter (human excreta) and produce methane gas and water as byproducts,” Singh said.
But Singh’s claims of a scientific breakthrough using the bacteria from Antarctica have been questioned on several grounds, including the fact that the bacterium, as Singh admitted, has not obtained an independent or a third-party certification from an organisation such as the UIC (Federation of European Railways
Also, DRDO does not have a patent for the design or manufacture of these bio-toilets. A patent is necessary to market a commercial product. DRDO only has a patent for the design of “railway toilet tank”, as the organisation’s website reveals.
This is not the first time the railways’ bio-toilet project has been criticised. A 2009 study jointly conducted by the Lucknow-based Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) and IIT-Kanpur concluded that no treatment of human excreta was happening in the bio-digesters installed in railway toilets.
“We had found the discharge from these toilets as being no different from raw sewage,” said IIT-K professor Vinod Tare, who had headed the study, which the Railway Ministry has not made public.
On September 14, 2004, DRDO scientist Y. Ashok Babu sent a letter to the then Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Pradeep Kumar, terming the bio-toilets “farce (sic) technology”.
Singh rejected these allegations. “Frustrated scientists who have never worked on the project are raising such issues,” he said. “Of course, there are some problems but these are being addressed by the railways.”
Singh, who has assumed charge as the chairman of the Digesters and Bio-Toilet Manufacturers Association (DBMA) after his retirement from DRDE this year, said questions of “conflict of interest” did not apply in his case, as he held only an “honorary position with the DBMA”.
Documents available with IndiaSpend suggest that there are serious issues with the bio-toilet venture. These were discussed at a high-level meeting convened by the Railway Board on October 26, with functionaries from 17 zones.
During the last three years of the last government (2011-14), 9,350 bio-toilets were fitted in trains but the figure rose by 539 per cent, to 59,735, in the first three years of the NDA government (2014-17). In the current financial year (2017-18), 24,215 bio-toilets had been fitted until August 30, bringing the cumulative figure to 93,537, the railways said in its RTI reply of November 2.
In this period, the cost of manufacture and fitment of bio-toilets climbed from an average of Rs 52,000 per unit to over Rs 75,000 per unit. After the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), this cost burden has spiked further, with the railways having to absorb the 18 per cent levy.
“Cost escalation is inevitable, as manufacturing costs have been rising,” said Manoj Jha of Faridabad-based Arkin Technologies that manufactures and supplies bio-digesters to the railways.
In response to an RTI appeal from Dehradun-based activist Prabhu Dandriyal, the railways stated that the Hubli workshop of South Western Railways had been supplied 2,152 toilets at a cost of over Rs 22 crore during the financial year 2016-17. Based on this calculation, the current cost being borne by the railways works out to more than Rs 100,000 per unit.
By the time the task is completed, the railways are likely to exceed their budget of Rs 1,200 crore for additional bio-toilets. Arvind Dethe, a bio-toilet manufacturer based in Akola in Maharashtra, has been selling a similar toilet at Rs 6,000.

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ToT holders of controversial DRDO bio toilet forms nexus in the name of Association

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ToT holders of controversial DRDO bio toilet forms nexus in the name of Association. Till date these toilets are purchased by either central government or state governments at a huge cost. Dr Lokendra Singh who was once director of DRDE and so called inventor of bio digester technology after shifted alliance to  Bio Toilets ToT holders association as its chairman. Interesting point to be noted here is these toilets being installed by these ToT holders needs inspection and certification by DRDE Gwalior of which Dr Loknedra Singh was director and his earlier team members currently working at senior levels in DRDE are the certifying officials. As chairman of such association whose sole buyer is Govt. and  his earlier team members worked under him at DRDE  as certifying officials even layman can understand who are the people being benefited from such criminal nexus at the expense of tax payer money.

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More SCR trains to feature bio-toilets

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Staff Reporter – The Hindu HYDERABAD:, MAY 17, 2013

The bio-toilet costs about Rs.80,000 apiece and uses uses bacteria to decompose night soil. Authorities plan to install 200 of them in Padmavathi, Ajanta and other trains

After conducting a successful trial run of using bio-toilets in 17 coaches of Hyderabad-Mumbai and Kacheguda-Bangalore Express trains, the South Central Railway (SCR) has now decided to install 200 bio-toilets in a few more trains very shortly.

Bacterial decomposition

Developed by Railway Research and Standard Organisation (RDSO) and Defence Research Development Establishment (DRDE), a bio-toilet, has six compartments and uses Inoculums (bacteria) to decompose night soil.

The night soil from commode enters into the bio-tank, where the inoculums are stored and gets decomposed by the bacteria. The decomposed human soil will next enter into chlorine tank and to get purified. Finally, the out put will be water and gas, said SCR spokesperson.

Onerous task of hygiene

Maintaining cleanliness at railway stations, especially the tracks at stations is always a task. Conventional toilets in trains discharge night soil onto the track, causing unhygienic conditions and corrosion to track and coach fittings, he said.

But with simple design and easier installation in coaches, these bio-toilets help in ensuring zero discharge of night soil on the tracks. SCR had commenced a trail run of using these bio toilets in Hyderabad-Mumbai and Kacheguda-Bangalore Express trains in January and it was found beneficial, he informed.

Each bio-toilet costs about Rs.80,000 and authorities are planning to install 200 of them in Padmavathi, Ajanta and other trains in a few months, he explained.

Bio-toilets with provision to replenish inoculums and chlorine are easy to maintain.

However, these toilets would get choked, if passengers dump bottles, plastic carry bags, cups, napkins etc into it via commode. It would choke the toilet, making it unusable, he added.

Drdo

Fresh Proof of bogus claims of Hi-Fi Bio toilet by Dr. Lokendra Singh

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As Dr Lokendra Singh, Master manipulator of DRDE who is fooling around Govt. and public at will in the name of Bio toilets going to retire a month a fresh proof of his Farzi Invention has emerged. Many scientists of DRDE pressed red button about genuinely of Gobar Toilets every now and then, even one of the scientist approached CVC about blowing out of proportion about very basic technique of bio gas production using cow dung and selling it to unsuspected Govt and public with investment of 1000s crores of public money (vide complaint no 16653/2014/Vigilance 9 dated 24/07/2014 & 27168/2014/Vigilance 7 dated 11/09/2014).

As per the recent article in NDTV an Engineer from Akola making biotoilets since a decade by using bacteria from cow dung and successfully installed 100s of such toilets in Maharashtra by just charging and recharging septic tank with bacteria from Fresh Cow dung. As per the website of this engineer each bio toilet is costing Rs 6000 only of which actual cost is going for constructing toilet structure but not to any microbial technology (story “With Low Cost And Smart Bio-Toilets An Engineer Brings Change To Rural Maharashtra” By: Anisha Bhatia  | April 27, 2017 (http://bit.ly/2p976Gn)). Arvind Dethe, the engineer developed bio-toilets or smart toilets that would cost only Rs. 6,000, using anaerobic bacteria but he never visited Maitri, Antarctica, who is not even a biologist, can the Govt ask this gentleman to fix the bio –toilet for public and railways or ask him teach the simple technique of bio toilet making to citizens enmass instead of simply allowing few companies under patronage of Dr. Lokendra Singh to eat public money.

In the complaint of senior Scientist of DRDE, the same point was mentioned in CVC complaint by DRDO scientist but none of his pleas were heard under mysterious circumstances instead he was shunted out and others such scientists are being harassed.  Dr Lokendra Singh’s fictitious invention was being advertised by  DRDO wasting crores of rupees in full page ad in all national papers. Time and again voice of concern was raised in various news papers but Govt is unfazed to prevent this huge magnitude of corruption in the name of science and technology. DRDO brazenly bluffed in the parliament about these so called toilets against question asked by one of the honorable Member of Parliament (UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2498 asked by Honorable MP Shri Amar Shankar Sable Regarding unpleasant smell, using of cow dung in Bio toilets developed by DRDO)

DRDO dedicated (Lokarpan) these toilets two times and fooled the country. The game is still on and Ministry of Railway putting Bio-Toilet every year beside the complaints of foul smell (By Rajendra B Aklekar, Mumbai Mirror | May 5, 2015, http://bit.ly/2pENOdw). DRDO Bio-Toilets raise a stinks – By Hemant Kumar Rout Published: 13th August 2016 – The New Indian Express (http://bit.ly/2oRxr9p)    No hygienic study was done before finalizing the installment.

Some of news coverage on these Bio toilets includes

  1. Here’s a novel idea to provide stench-free rides in trains. ANIL KUMAR SASTRY – MANGALURU, May 11, 2015 – The Hindu (http://bit.ly/2pEOGyt)
  2. Toilet truth hits drive OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT – The Telegraph, New Delhi, Sept. 3, 2014 (http://bit.ly/2prIklc)
  3. Bio-toilets Fail to Flush out Open Defecation in Bhadrak By Express News Service Published: 23rd August 2014 (http://bit.ly/2oRvmKg)
  4.  Bacteria from Antarctica or cow dung? DRDO’s bio-toilet claim questionedBy ABHINANDAN MISHRA | New Delhi | 21 August, 2016 -The Sunday Guardian (http://bit.ly/2pEViNy)
  5.  Jairam Ramesh’s pet project ‘Bio-toilet’ stands abandoned in OdishaBy Hemant Kumar Rout – BALASORE/BHADRAK Published: 14th August 2012 (http://bit.ly/2p9uaET)

Honorable PM Modi ji requested to please put DRDO in your corruption free agenda in priority because every minute DRDO corrupt officials sitting in TOP pulling country down in defence technology race and interestingly this agenda maintain after retirement by sitting either government posts or with private organization, their sole aim to mint money till death.

It is high time for Hon. Prime Minister to set right things in DRDO and call for an independent enquiry into these bio toilets and order investigation into CVC complaint and take action against the perpetrators of the fraud.

Jai Hind

Drdo

Bacteria from Antarctica or cow dung? DRDO’s bio-toilet claim questioned

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By ABHINANDAN MISHRA | New Delhi | 21 August, 2016 -The Sunday GuardianDRDO_Logo_New copy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some scientists working with the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) have questioned the veracity of the claim that the DRDO uses bacteria brought from Antarctica in its much-talked about bio-toilets that are being installed in railway coaches and public places. According to these scientists, who have filed a complaint with the Chief Vigilance Commission seeking an inquiry into the claims being made by DRDO, the defence outfit is using cow dung in its bio-toilets.

The bio-toilets that are being developed by DRDO’s Gwalior-based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and the Tezpur-based Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), use anaerobic microbial bacteria to decompose and convert biological human excreta into usable water and gases.

DRDO has claimed that the anaerobic bacteria used in these toilets have been imported from Antarctica and that they can effectively function in extreme conditions and temperature ranging from -6 degree Celsius to 50 degree Celsius. However, scientists with DRDO have claimed that the imported bacteria cannot survive in high temperatures.

“These bacteria need a certain amount of heat (from 0 degree C to 5 degree C) to work efficiently and this was the reason why many such bio-toilets installed at Siachen for the Army are now useless as these could not function for the lack of heat. The DRDO, which has been claiming that it was using imported bacteria, is now forced to use cow dung in its bio-toilets,” said senior DRDO scientist Dr Y. Ashok Babu, who has lodged a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and sought a probe in the matter. Ashok claimed that the whole thing is a farce and certain people within the organisation want to make easy money by making the government believe that they were using a sophisticated technology in their bio-toilets.

Another senior scientist working with DRDE, Gwalior, told this newspaper: “They are using cow dung rather than bacteria brought from Antarctica. The Defence Minister can independently speak to any microbiologist in the country and he will get to know the entire story.”

Earlier this month, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, while replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, had stated that cow dung was being used in bio-toilets to multiply the bacteria from Antarctica, which was being used primarily. His response was based on the information provided by the DRDE.

Ashok Babu, however, clarified that “DRDE is claiming that it is using a ‘consortium’ of bacteria brought from Antarctica in the bio-toilets but the truth is that it brought a single species of bacteria and is now passing off a bacteria found in cow dung as bacteria from Antarctica. The Defence Minister should ask the concerned scientists in DRDE to list out each bacterium in the ‘consortium’ of bacteria; this will bring out the truth. After their attempts to impress the Army at Siachen by building bio-toilets failed, they are now trying to sell them to Indian Railways.”parliment question

Drdo

DRDO’s bio-toilets raise a stink

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By Hemant Kumar Rout Published: 13th August 2016 – The New Indian Express
BHUBANESWAR: The much-hyped bio-toilets invented by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and installed in railway coaches, public places and colonies seem to have sparked of a controversy with some senior scientists raising voice against the functioning and technology which allegedly uses cow dung instead of imported bacteria.

Developed by Gwalior-based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and Tezpur-based Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), both laboratories of DRDO, the bio-toilets, fondly known as ‘E-loo’, use anaerobic microbial bacteria to decompose and convert biological human excreta into usable water and gasses.
DRDO e looThough initially, the bio-toilets installed in high-altitude regions such as Siachen and Ladakh performed as expected for a certain period, now many of them are reportedly abandoned or unused for obvious reasons leading to objections from the armed forces.
While the DRDO said the anaerobic bacteria have been imported from Antarctica and can effectively function in extreme conditions and temperature ranging from -6 degree Celsius to 50 degree C, a group of DRDO scientists claimed that the imported bacteria cannot survive in high temperature.

“Since such type of anaerobic bacteria are abundantly available in cow dung, the cattle waste is now being used in bio-toilets while the research organisation is hoodwinking the people in the name of technology development by wasting crores. Like the bio-toilets, the normal septic toilets also have a perfect anaerobic environment with the only difference being addition of cow dung in the name of inoculum culture in the former,” they said.

According to senior DRDO scientist Dr Y Ashok Babu, who has lodged a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) seeking a probe into it, the imported bacteria worked perfectly well in the laboratory but did not work efficiently in the Siachen region, for which a solar panel heating system was added to accelerate digestion process.

“There is no requirement of specific bacteria in the normal temperature and local bacteria in the septic tank will do the same task more efficiently if cow dung is added to it. The technology is a farce which allows a handful of greedy business people to earn crores of rupees,” the complaint stated.

DRDE Director Dr Lokendra Singh, however, refuted the allegations. He said the cow dung is used only to multiply the bacteria brought from Antarctica, which can survive in Indian conditions. “Actually the cow dung used in the toilets is not the cattle waste but the bacteria which are transported through it. The toilets are working perfectly for which the Railways has given bulk orders,” he claimed.

The DRDO has so far made the transfer of technology (ToT) agreement with 56 companies which are producing bio-toilets at a cost ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 75 lakh depending on the volume of population using it and quality of materials.

Singh informed that while already 40,000 bio-toilets have been installed in railway coaches, additional 80,000 toilets are to be installed shortly. Besides, around 20,000 E-loos have been placed in colonies, urban areas and villages. The Indian Railways has planned to install 2.5 lakh toilets in all coaches by October 2, 2019

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Drdo

LIFE SCIENCES IN DRDO HAS GOT GREAT POTENTIAL TO WORK TOWORD ACHEIVNG DEFENCE GOALS BUT THESE CROOKS DESTROYING DRDO OF ITS CAPABILITIES

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The Goel Story of DRDE: A stark example of Murky Underbelly of Nepotism and Opportunism in DRDO

Nepotism is the major killer of quality research in DRDO, either a scientist is a relative of the boss or he is good at fulfilling all vested interests of the boss to get undue favours and it is the sure shot opportunity to reach to top and spread venom further in the organization. Out of those opportunists, many could manage one or more bosses to get promotion to next ranks, there few crooks in DRDO who can able to mould themselves according to all type of bosses and they can go to any extent to get all undue benefits and eat away the system within. The great Scientist DR AK Singh is the best example till now, but let me introduce DR AK Goel whose crookedness will raise your hair. He is the modern shakuni of many dhuryodhanas of DRDE, the latest one is Dr. Loku, the great feku of gobar gas a.k.a bio toilet.

Let me introduce the humble beginning of Dr AK Goel, the great goel passed out from not so well known Haryana Agricultural University locally called HAU with a PhD in Agri. Microbiology a subject which has more relevance to plant pathology, n least relevant to any defence application. But you all know very well that to enter into life science research labs of DRDO you don’t need to pass any exam, with an interview you can become Sc ’B’. Now our Goel after joining DRDE as Sc ‘B’ being a natural crook have seen that nepotism is prevalent in DRDE during Er. K Sekhar as director started buttering him by fulfilling all wishes of tharki and alcoholic sekhar. All of a sudden the alcoholic sekhar got promoted to CC R&D but he wished to take his saaki along….. what next???? Khuda mehar baan to gadha pehalvaan” Our Goel told the drunkerd “Sir its a prestige issue if a CC’s humwaal sorry staff officer is just a newly promoted Sc ‘C’….. now the drunkard promised him that I will make you ‘D’.

His gang member Dr. Ilavzhagan (Illegal appointment of his wife T Bhanu fame) readily agreed to advertise a vacancy for Sc ‘D’ in bioinformatics. Now our great don’t have any experience in bioinformatics except searching internet for science papers so he requested to the alcoholic boss to fix the interview board with experts from HAU as expected he was directly selected for the post of Sc ‘D’ in bioinformatics without knowing ABCD of bioinformatics and unfortunately the other guy who appeared in the interview holding a post degree and a PhD in Bio informatics was kicked out. Now the real story starts, The great Goel without doing science has jumped from Sc B to D has proudly joined DIPAS at Delhi without even transferring his inventory and lab. He continued to being saaki of CC R&D. Mos interesting point is now all of a sudden even DIPAS felt Bioinformatics is no required so they conveniently transferred Sc ‘D’ Dr Goel to DRDO HQ within six months without even utilizing his great bioinformatics capabilities.
Now as staff officer of Sekhar, Goel started getting all undue benefits including weekly trip to Gwalior to meet his family, you all may get astonished our Goels many times Goel’s monthly travel expenses on Govt account to visit his family is more than his own salary. With his boss clout and timidnessof the then Director Raghavan he could able to keep students for him where as all other working scientist were deprived of helping hand, he enjoyed purchasing equipments and earn handful of money from DRDE even being posted at DRDO HQ, Our Goel is also expert in speculating in share market. With the help of his boss Sekhar LSRB was pressurised to grant research project to Jiwaji Univeristy on making fermented jamun drink which has nothing to do with defence or bio defence. He made his wife to get appointed as RA in that project illegally and both husband and wife siphoned off DRDO money conveniently during full tenure of the project. After one your of serving in HQ, he was again transferred to DRDE on public interest, now the Bioinformatics specialization which was initially at DIPAS is required in DRDE. Now came the era of dushyaasan in DRDE the great farzi paper producer Prof. MP. Kaushik (ChemPro scam fame) our Goel could effectively manage him too whom whole DRDE think only a lady can manage. Dr Goel got a super outstanding call for his outstanding contributions as saaki and his great manipulating abilities. No one knows what great services Dr Goel has done to Alcoholic and Tharki Sekhar, just 15 days before his retirement he himself sat in the assessment board and got him super outstanding promoted to Scientist- E. From scientist B to E in just 7 years!!!!! All hard working and patriotic scientists, learn something from his story, DRDO promotes these crooks and kick on your ass.

This great Goel story did not end here, here comes the era of Tuglak in DRDE, the great Dr. Lokendra Singh who is fooling whole country by farzi bio toilets which are nothing but Gobar Gas plants, even this tuglak wihsed a great saaki and manipulator and he knows Dr Goel is the best Choice so now he made him “Officer On Special Duty” in netaji estyle…. Dr Goel is running the show in DRDE as proxy director and he is soon going to get out standing promotion to Sc ‘F’…… I think AK Singh needs to learn more from this AK Goel.

I wonder if our honourable Rakha Mantri can able to do something to weed out these pests from DRDO before it is too late….. These crooks make whole system rotten generations after generations and real and patriotic scientists perish from the system.

LIFE SCIENCES IN DRDO HAS GOT GREAT POTENTIAL TO WORK TOWORD ACHEIVNG DEFENCE GOALS BUT THESE CROOKS DESTROYING DRDO OF ITS CAPABILITIES