Mumbai : Commuters will now be able to have a glass of Reverse Osmosis (RO) purified water for Re 1 at suburban railway stations. The Railways will be setting up over 300 water vending machines on Central Railway (CR) as well as Western Railway (WR) following a guideline by the Railway Board.
At present, commuters can get water from the stalls at railway stations free of cost. However, this is merely running water filled in a container. The work of putting up water-vending machines will be undertaken by the catering wing of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). They have called for tenders and are expected to start the installation of these machines by the end of this month.
An official from IRCTC said: “We have asked both the zonal railways to send in the list of stations where these machines can be put up. As soon as we get the list we will initiate the work.”
It will benefit the commuters as they will no more have to buy bottled water. They can simply get a glass of water for Re 1. They will also be able to refill their bottles from these water vending machines at nominal rates. IRCTC will also be nominating staff for manning these machines and will look after its maintenance as well.
These machines will also maintain a count of the glasses of water sold and the money collected. A senior official from railways said: “As the purified water will be supplied to a large group of people, it will be at a much cheaper rate as compared to packaged drinking water bottles.”
Iram Siddique
