BENGALURU: Quenching thirst at railway stations is set to become less expensive.
Passengers can have access to safe, packaged drinking water at most railway stations across the State at economical prices in the future, thanks to the efforts of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
“The department is in the process of finalising the contracts for the South Western Railway (SWR) zone...” said a top IRCTC official adding that the tenders were called last month.
Currently, one litre water bottles are supposed to be sold for Rs 15 but they are generally sold by endors for a price ranging between Rs 15 and Rs 20 at railway stations.
“Under the new proposal, a one-litre mineral water bottle would be sold for Rs 8 while if one has a container or bottle on hand which needs filling up, the same quantity of water would cost just Rs 5,” he said. One can also buy a glass of purified water (without the glass) for just Rs 1, the official added.
Conditions by Rly Board
The following are the conditions laid down by the Railway Board for installing machines which would supply the purified water: The water vending machine should have Reverse Osmosis Technology or alternative superior technology; it has to conform to BIS specification IS 10500:2012 (standard for drinking water); it must have multiple taps so that passengers need not spend time waiting. Among other conditions specified are that the overall size should not exceed 30 square feet including the operator space.
“All A, A-1 and B stations across the SWR zone will have them,” the official said. A few D category stations will also be equipped with them. On the exact timeframe, the official said the contract will be awarded in a week. However, the companies will require some time, he added. “Since a large number of machines are involved, it will take some time for the companies to manufacture and transport these kind of machines.”
It could roughly take three months from now for the low-cost purified water to be supplied at stations, he added.