The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) how it could justify not providing free drinking water to commuters if metro services in Kochi, Jaipur, Lucknow and other cities are making it available.
Accessibility
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao also asked the DMRC how it was going to provide free drinking water at one particular point inside metro stations, so that it was accessible to everyone.
“Clarify how you [DMRC] will implement it. Clarify if you can provide free drinking water at one particular point at a station which is accessible to all commuters,” the Bench said as it listed the case for further hearing on October 11.
The DMRC, in an affidavit, said that at stations where water ATMs or kiosks are not available its officials can be approached by those in emergent need of water. The court also sought information over the matter.
The DMRC told the Bench that it can provide signs at metro stations to direct commuters to the point where free drinking water would be available in case of an emergency. It also said it has set up water ATMs at its stations that charge ₹2 per glass of water. Besides, it said, there are kiosks and shops which sell drinking water. It also said that commuters are free to carry their own drinking water
Petitioner Kush Kalra’s counsel told the court that metro services in other cities were providing free drinking water to commuters, but the Delhi metro, which was a consultant in all those projects, was not doing the same.
The court was hearing Mr. Kalra’s appeal against a High Court Single Judge’s order that a metro commuter does not have a right to free drinking water.
The Single Judge had said that a person has a right to drinking water, but not for free.
The court had earlier this year pulled up the DMRC for not providing free drinking water or toilet facilities to commuters inside the stations, asking whether it had lost “a sense of human problems”.
