Scientist urges Rly ministry to take action on tender misuse

Chennai, Mar 7 (UNI) An NRI Scientist and the CEO of the Australia-based Zumaaks Toilet Private Limited, S Kirupa, today urged the Union Railway Ministry to take action against the alleged irregularities that took place in awarding the tender by the railway board for introducing environment-friendly biological toilets in the railway coaches.

Talking to newspersons here, he said that due to irregularities, the Indian Railway administration would suffer a huge loss of hundreds of crores of rupees.

Mr Kirupa said the Indian Railways Board, which was aiming at improving the hygiene level in trains by introducing environment-friendly biological toilets and eliminating open toilet systems by 2011-13, was heading towards an immediate loss of about Rs One crore for awarding a trial order to a Faridabad-based company, using US technology for supplying 80 bio-toilets on a pilot basis.

If the Board placed more orders in the post trail period, it would result in hundreds of crores of loss in the near future, he added.

He said bio-toilets of US-based firm Microphor were installed in railway coaches in 1994 by Integral Coach Factory (ICF), but proved to be a 100 per cent failure. The bio-toilets were removed from the coaches following complaints from public, he added.

The CEO alleged that the Railway Board, however, had now awarded the trial order to the Faridabad-based Aikon Technologies, which had tied up with the same US company.

He claimed that the bio-toilet of Aikon Technologies, costs several times more, compared to Zumaaks alternative toilet technology.(The Zumaaks biotechnology toilets convert 98 per cent of human waste into water, which will be re-used to flush toilets) Further, the US technology failed to comply with several RSDO (Research Designs and Standards), he added.

UNI