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Konkan Railway Corporation’s Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) service where trucks ride piggyback on wagons has transported more than 5 lakh trucks since the beginning of the service on January 26, 1999, thereby contributing largely to environment conservation, the company has said.

On the eve of World Environment Day on Saturday, KRCL has said it is making every effort to conserve environment by adopting various novel methods.

A release from KRCL here said that RoRo has been able to help save over 750 lakh litres of diesel for the nation.

Besides considerable savings to the economy, RoRo has contributed to the reduction of truck traffic and resultant road congestion. The concept is now being emulated in the Indian Railways too.

Meanwhile, the Konkan Railway has been able to save water by developing and adopting a low-cost “‘automatic coach washing plant” technology for cleaning train coaches.

This technology utilises 70 per cent less water when compared to the manual cleaning system. Konkan Railway has two such plants on its route and each plant saves nearly 10 million litres of water annually.

The Indian Railways is considering adopting this technology too considering the huge benefits in terms of economy as well savings in water and energy.

KRCL has taken up rainwater harvesting at Kamathe, Ratnagiri, Ukshi, Ankola and Murdeshwar stations to conserve water. All new buildings and installations on the Konkan Railway would be provided with rainwater harvesting systems in future, it said.

The company has installed bio-toilets in one-fourth of its coaches and at 11 railway stations across its network. Bio-toilets would be installed at all upcoming restrooms at Konkan Railway stations, the release added.

KRCL has installed organic waste converters that convert bio-degradable waste into compost at Ratnagiri, Madgaon and Karwar stations.

A bio-digester has been installed at Ratnagiri station’s running room, and the biogas generated is used for cooking in the kitchen.

Following the success of this project, more such organic waste converters and bio-digesters have been planned, according to the release.