Rail tracks can now be cleaned with automatic cleaning vehicles

New Delhi: Instead of manual cleaning of railway tracks, manual cleaning of vehicles can be done by hand, although manual cleaning of human excreta and garbage lying on the railway tracks is still going on.

The country has been banned in 1993 by manual lifting and cleaning of human feces but still women and men can be seen removing the feces from the railway tracks with the help of broom and metal leaves. After the waste is removed from the railway tracks, sewage, dirt, oily and foreign substances are cleaned from the tracks by pouring water from the high-pressure jet.

Dr. Sharad K., Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bhopal-based National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research. Pradhan has developed a multi-dimensional railway track cleaning vehicle. The vehicle has been developed with the help of the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and is compatible with the Make in India initiative. A national patent has also been granted for this.

It is equipped with automatic road and rail vehicle dry and wet suction system, air and water shower nozzle control system. This road and rail equipment is multi-functional and easily operational. It has a display unit that controls the cleaning system even in the most challenging environment. This requires only one person besides the driver to clean the railway tracks.

Once the dry and wet waste is pulled by the vehicle’s section system, the nozzle splashes water and the sharp edge of the water that falls from the jet cleans up any human waste or other types of waste. Some other nozzles on the vehicle spray pesticides on the rail belt so that flies, rats and other germs cannot thrive on it. Water jets completely remove human feces and other types of wet waste from the tracks. The dry and wet waste drawn from the section pump is collected in separate tanks and when the tanks are full, it is dumped at the local bodies’ waste collection site. The telescopic section controlled by the controller lever in it clears the sludge from the drains made with pipe tracks. The telescopic section pipe can be properly set for cleaning the drains on the side of the tracks.

Because it is a rail and road vehicle, Indian Railways can also use it as a material transport vehicle from the rail track to the road. This vehicle can also be used as a maintenance inspection vehicle and a pesticide spraying vehicle. When this vehicle is not in the cleaning mode, the Indian Railways can also use it as a transport and inspection vehicle. After its successful development and testing, Indian Railways can use it as a cleaning vehicle at all stations. The maintenance cost of this vehicle is very low. Its shape is very compact. It can be run both front and back and can work continuously and intermittently. In this way it will prove to be a far better and effective vehicle than the existing available vehicles.

After the pilot test, construction industry doctor Sharad K. Together with Pradhan, it can start its large-scale commercial production.