Railways’ safe water, free water concept just on papers
Passengers who cannot afford packaged water bottles face difficulties as the water taps are in broken or dirty conditions.
A passenger at a water filling shop run by the Railways department (Photo: Deepak ST)
CHENNAI: Water, an elixir of life for mankind but not for rail passengers in the Chennai division.
The concept of safe and free water is slowly dwindling and a visit by DT Next to a couple of suburban railway stations revealed that the common water taps meant to quench people’s thirst is either missing or not functioning.
Drinking water taps are either dry or worn out and the bottled Rail Neer, provided by the IRCTC at a cheaper price, is out of stock in many stations in the Chennai division. Passengers who cannot afford packaged water bottles face difficulties as the water taps are in broken or dirty conditions.
The Rail Neer sellers at the various stations complain about the lack of stock availability and the water quality. “The customers complain that the taste of Rail Neer water is bad compared to other brands. They prefer other brands over Rail Neer as others are available at the same rate of Rs 15. In addition, we do not receive the same quantity of water bottles we order rather we get them in a smaller number,” said a seller at Mambalam railway station, requesting anonymity.
“Supply of Rail Neer stocks is low, and if we request 10 pieces daily, only five pieces are given. Thus, the product has an average sale. Due to the summer season, there is a demand for the product, but the stock comes once every two days,” said N Gokul, a seller in St Thomas Mount.
Lokesh, a seller at Egmore railway station, said, “There have been many complaints from the buyers that there is a difference in the taste of Rail Neer water. Also, there is at least one damaged bottle in each case that we receive from the railways.”
The drinking water taps at Nungambakkam, Kodambakkam, and Guindy railway stations are in bad condition thus making people hesitant to use them. In Saidapet, pipes without taps were found and the taps and the pipes were dry in Nungambakkam and St Thomas Mount stations.
When contacted, a senior official attached to the Southern Railway said that the Rail Neer water is produced as per the capacity of the plants that are installed with some regulations. The supply must be done by the IRCTC which owns them, he added. In the Palur plant where the Rail Neer is produced, the production capacity is 1,80,000 bottles per day, which is also the machine capacity, he added.