By the end of this year, passengers will be able to get safe drinking water as per World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for Re.1 to Rs.5 at major railway stations here.
A total of 46 water vending machines are going to be installed at nine different railway stations of the Delhi Division of Northern Railway.
The Division sent its plan on the location where these machines will be put up at these stations to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which is in the process of selecting firms as franchisees for rolling out the scheme.
The stations in Delhi are part of the nearly 1,200 railway stations across the country where around 5,000 water vending machines will be set up.
Arun Arora, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi Division, Northern Railway, told The Hindu that the plan has been sent to the IRCTC and work is expected to begin soon.
“We expect that by the end of this year, passengers will be able to use these water vending machines at nine selected stations. Forty-six water vending machines will be set up at nine different stations as part of Phase I and other stations will be included in Phase II,” Mr. Arora said.
Passengers will be able to get non-packaged water, purified through Reverse Osmosis (RO) at these vending machines. A litre of drinking water will cost Rs.5, half-a-litre will cost Rs.3 and Re.1 for a glass of water. An LED display on the machine will show the cost and quantity of water dispensed.
The Old Delhi railway station will get the maximum number of these machines — 12, followed by nine at New Delhi railway station, eight at Hazrat Nizamuddin station, four at Sarai Rohilla railway station and three at Anand Vihar railway station. Similar machines will also be installed at railway stations in Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Rohtak, etc.
The Railway Ministry had issued a policy for installation of water vending machines at railway stations earlier this year.
The Railways will ensure that minimum amount of water is wasted in the RO process and the wastewater too is used in toilets or for other non-potable purposes.
