Get drunk free

On water, that is. Western Railway commuters can soon enjoy purified water at no cost

On water, that is. Western Railway commuters can soon enjoy purified water at no cost

If all goes well, commuters travelling by Western Railway will no longer have to pay for purified drinking water at railway stations.

WR officials said they have come up with a plan, by which they will give water-processing companies advertising space in return for providing the water free.

WR has invited expressions of interest and expect responses within the month.

First step

The move is the first step towards implementing the railway board's recently formulated policy.

According to the policy, WR will permit companies with expertise in the reverse osmosis process of water purification to set up water vending machines at 11 stations including Mumbai Central and Bandra Terminus.

Barter: Western Railway plans to give water-processing companies advertising space in return for free water.

They will provide the companies 12 square feet space to set up the processing and vending machine and permit them to utilise the space on the panels of the machine for advertising.

The machine will have to provide 300 litres of purified water in an hour. However, passengers will have to bring their own bottles to fill the water.

"The contract will be for a period of one year, during which the company can generate revenue from advertisements.

We will provide the vendor free electricity and potable water. Our aim is to provide quality drinking water to commuters," said S S Gupta, CPRO, Western Railway.

Added another official, "Most of the existing water fountains are either dysfunctional or dirty. Commuters cringe from drinking water from taps on the platforms.

Therefore, this policy would be of great help in making purified drinking water available at stations."

Matter Of Trust

Philanthropist Mahavirprasad G Saraf (75) was shocked when he found that of the 98 drinking water huts he had installed at 46 railway stations in 2001, 70 are in a bad condition. Saraf said the maintenance of the huts was the responsibility of the railways. About reverse osmosis Reverse osmosis is a process of purification that's often used in the case of water too. u00a0 In this process, pressure is used to force water through a membrane that acts as a filter. u00a0 The impurities are retained on one side and pure water passes to the other side.