THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Railways conducted ‘Operation Thirst’, a special drive to curb the sale of unauthorised packaged drinking water (PDW) in trains and canteens under Thiruvananthapuram division.
Special teams formed for surprise inspections found unauthorised sales in two trains.
As many as 10 bottles of drinking water of a particular brand kept in the pantry car of Train No.22639 Chennai Central – Alappuzha Express and four bottles of drinking water from Train No.22643 Ernakulam – Patna Express were confiscated. The sale of PDW without Railway approval is illegal. ‘Railneer’ brand of drinking water is bottled by the Railways as per safety standards. In a statement, the Railways said legal action would be taken against those engaged in the sale of unauthorised bottled water under relevant sections of the Railway Act.
‘Operation Thirst’ is a country-wide operation to crack down on sale of unauthorised bottled water, which witnessed a spurt during summer. As many as 732 cases were registered across the country during the drive in which 801 persons were arrested under different sections. A total of 48,860 bottles were also seized.