Sale on the first day on Monday of the one-litre Amma Bottled Drinking Water showed that the demand far outstripped the supply in Coimbatore and nearby districts in Western region of the State.
Priced at Rs. 10 to cater to the economically-weaker sections of society, it is the latest in the pro-people measures launched by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
The product is being sold to passengers of State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) buses and retailed at bus terminuses across the state.
Official sources in the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), Coimbatore Division, told The Hindu that 2,600 bottles were sold in the four districts of Coimbatore Division, namely, The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tirupur and Erode. Of this, Coimbatore alone accounted for 1,080 bottles. The TNSTC was retailing the bottles for the SETC.
However, officials said the estimated demand for Coimbatore was more than 13,000 bottles per day.
The demand for the entire Coimbatore Division was expected to be in the range of 33,000 bottles a day.
As such, the official said, the TNSTC Coimbatore Division had appealed to the headquarters to increase the supply at the earliest.
The Transport Department had established a packaging facility at Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur district which could process three lakh litres of water everyday.
The facility was the first of 10 such to come up in the State.
Positive response
A senior official said the response from the public was positive.
The entire stock of 120 bottles sent to the City Bus Stand at Gandhipuram was sold out within a couple of hours.
The SETC Bus Stand managed to sell the bottles till afternoon since it received 200 numbers. The Mofussil Bus Stand at Gandhipuram also reported brisk sales.
A total of 39 stalls have been established across the Coimbatore Division to sell the water.
This included 10 at Coimbatore, three in The Nilgiris, and eight each at Erode and Tirupur.
All the stalls sold out their entire stock before the end of the day, the official added.
