Railways to provide potable water at affordable price

Railways will install water vending machines at the stations across the country to provide potable drinking water to passengers at affordable price.
The policy has been formulated with a view to further improve the availability of potable drinking water for passengers at the stations, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
Subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations, would get the water vending machines (WVM) installed.
Currently drinking water at stations is generally supplied through water booths or water coolers after carrying out requisite treatment or disinfection as per requirement.

WVMs will provide pure drinking water in a much less price as compared to packaged drinking water, the official said.
A passenger will have to shell out Rs 5 for 500 ml water, Rs 8 for one litre, Rs 12 for 2 litre water and Rs 25 for 5 litres jars, at the vending machine .

As per the policy, the cost and quantity of water dispensed will be displayed in a LED display so that amount is verifiable by the customer.
The official said vending machines will be installed only by reputed manufacturers or their franchisee holders or authorised agents. The machines will have multiple dispensing taps to facilitate maximum passengers to avail the facility simultaneously.

The selection of the franchisee or agent for installation of machines will be done through tendering process to ensure that branded and reputed companies were engaged.
In the initial phase, those platforms of the stations which are already provided with RO drinking water units supplying free water may not be provided with vending machines.
The water supplied through these machines will be frequently checked through suitable device by the Health Inspector or Medical Personnel. Machines will be equipped with Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology or alternate superior technology.