Chennai: As part of its pilot project, Southern Railway installed bio-toilets at around 100 railway stations. But, most of them remain locked or non-functional.
The pay and use bio-toilets were installed at railway stations on three suburban routes of – Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu line, Chennai Central-Arakkonam line and Chennai Beach-Arakkonam line.
The passengers welcomed this move, as non-availability of toilets at major railway stations was a big problem. The facility did not last long as the toilets were locked soon after.
It was found that bio-toilets at the Chrompet railway station, St Thomas Mount railway station, Tambaram Sanatorium railway station, Perambur railway station and Villivakkam railway station were locked.
“The toilets were set up in the Tambaram Sanatorium railway premises and were locked almost after a month of its use. It has been a year since there has been no toilet in the station,” said Kavya Mohan, a regular passenger.
Bio-toilets were also installed in the stations that already had pay and use toilets. These bio-toilets would have been an added benefit there, but as they remain locked, they are of no use.
“There is a pay and use toilet on the same side of the station where the bio-toilets are installed, but they are always locked and I have never seen anyone using it,” said Elavarasan S, a regular commuter at Perambur railway station. Around Rs 150 crore was used up for the installation of these bio-toilets on railway stations in Chennai division, which was not even provided to the public for use.
