Come January. The Prisons Department plans to present a unique yet populist New Year gift. One can buy a 1-litre bottle of mineral water for just Rs. 10 that is to be processed from the Department’s water plant from 2014.
Moreover, the department will start selling medicinal water by that time at an affordable price of Rs. 10 a litre, if the project has its way. The Department is planning to begin production of mineral water and medicinal water on commercial basis from January. While the mineral water project would be launched at open prison at Nettulkaltheri here the medicinal water plant would be set up at Central Prison in Viyyur.
The plant will make use of the water from the two dams of Nettukaltheri and Thevancode, inside the open prison compound. The dams together have a capacity of 4 crore litres of water.
There is a medicinal garden at Viyyur prison spreading over 10 acres. The plants from there would be used for making medicianal water. Oushadi, government-owned Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing company, and Small Industries Development Corporation (Sidco) are offering technical support for the medicinal and mineral water projects respectively. “We have sought the cooperation of Oushadi and Sidco. Shortage of pure drinking water is an acute problem faced by the city dwellers.
There is no adequate water source in the cities. It is ironical that a litre of milk costs Rs. 25 while it costs Rs. 30 for water.
‘‘Mineral water at an affordable price would be a solace for common man. The medicinal water would contain ingredients capable of preventing lifestyle diseases,” DGP Prisons Alexander Jacob told Express.