Current Affairs PDF

Union Railway Minister Flagged off India’s First ever Green Rail Corridor between Rameshwaram – Manamadurai in TN

AffairsCloud YouTube Channel - Click Here

AffairsCloud APP Click Here

The nation’s first Green Rail Corridor, a 114-km long Rameswaram-Manamadurai extent in Tamil Nadu was inaugurated by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.

first-green-rail-corridor

What is a Green Rail Corridor?

  • In order to improve cleanliness and hygiene, Trains in the green corridor have been fitted with bio-toilets, which ensure zero discharge of human waste on the rail tracks.
  • All trains on this route will have bio-toilets to ensure zero discharge of human waste on the track. These include 14 stations with 10 passenger trains, consisting of 286 coaches.
  • In coaches with bio toilets, human waste is collected in tanks below the toilets and is decomposed by a consortium of bacteria and then the water is discharged on the tracks.
  • Indian railways signed a MoU with DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organization) for the development of this technology.
  • This green corridor is aimed towards the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian Railways have set the target of providing bio-toilets in all the coaches by September, 2019 in order to prevent open defaecetation on the railway tracks.

Inauguration Ceremony:-

Union Railway minister inaugurated the corridor through video conferencing between Chennai and Rameswaram station and also he addresses the importance of the bio – toilets in this ceremony. Till July around 42,000 bio – toilets have been installed in several trains running throughout India.

As a part of Digital India Plan, he also inaugurated high speed upgraded Wi-Fi facility, set up in association with Google, at Chennai Central Railway Station and a similar facility at Tiruchirappalli through video conferencing.

On his visit to Chennai, Suresh Prabhu also launched a traditional medicine centre under Ayush at Perambur Railway Hospital and a broad gauge line between Thiruvallur and Thiruvalangadu stations on the Chennai-Arakkonam line.

The railway minister also added that following this green corridor, the following routes will also be fitted with bio – toilets,

  • Okha-Kanalas (141 km),
  • Porbandar-Wansjaliya (34 km)
  • Jammu-Katra (78 km) sections