Passengers travelling in long-distance trains will soon get respite from the stench of toilets with Railways set to replace them with "odourless" bio-toilets. With a view to providing more hygienic conditions, Railways is firming up a green initiative to manufacture 2,500 bio-toilets in the upcoming fiscal. Unlike traditional toilets in trains where the waste is discharged on tracks, the new system will treat the same inside a tank with the help of a bacteria, which will convert it into harmless gas and water.

To ensure hygienic railway tracks, the rail coach factory (RCF) in Kapurthala is set to roll out five long-route trains fitted with bio-digestive toilets. The new system will not only avoid manual scavenging of human waste from rail tracks but also be hygienic, as the waste will be converted into gas and water.
Earlier, bio toilets were fitted in around 50 coaches of different trains for testing purpose. But now, the new five trains will only have bio toilets.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has decided to take legal action against two municipal committees (MCs) for allegedly failing to prevent sewage water from flowing into rivers and has directed two other civic bodies to stop all other work and focus on building sewage treatment plants immediately. The pollution body had set November 30th as the deadline for municipal committees to take effective measures and prevent dirty water from flowing into the state’s rivers.

As many as 1,159 patients have been tested positive for dengue so far throughout the state. Of these, 447 persons have been tested positive in Ludhiana district, 358 in Bathinda district and 239 in Muktsar district. However, as per official records, only three dengue deaths have been reported so far.

Dr JP Singh, director, Health Services, said he had been ordered by the CM and the Health Minister to assess the situation in Bathinda, Ludhiana and other districts.

The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala won the prestigious the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award, for the third time in a row, beating 350 other organisations including big corporate houses.

Ludhiana: Presence of high levels of uranium in drinking water at Faridkot has raised an alarm amongst the residents with the NGO Baba Farid Center for Special Children which brought this issue to light some two years back demanding that the drinking water in this once princely state should be declared unfit for human consumption.

In a major crackdown, teams of Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) conducted surprise raids at 15 industrial units of Majha and Doaba region of the state. During the raids, some of the industrial units were found violating the pollution norms with respect to air and water.

UNWTO team holds discussions with authorities of the district administration in Patiala

With the approval of the Punjab Tourism Master Plan by the state government in November 2009, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has now embarked on a plan to implement the same in a specific time frame.

The Harike wetland, which came into existence in 1952 after the construction of a barrage on the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers and was subsequently declared a bird sanctuary in 1982, has come under severe threat from the encroachers.

Kapurthala: Executive Engineer, Drainage Department, Gurdial Singh today claimed here that weeds had been removed from Kali Bein especially areas of Kanjali wetland and Subhanpur. After the removal of weeds, water level has receded by several fee and flow of water was restored.