One more train with 50 wagons will begin transporting water from Jolarpet to Chennai on Wednesday. It is expected to carry 2.5 million litres of water a day, thus making the total supply to 5 million litres.
Following Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s announcement to supply 10 million litres of water to Chennai at a cost of ₹65 crore, the first train left Jolarpet on Friday. But the train with empty wagons is required to return to the filling point. “We need a minimum of four hours to fill water and the train journey would start thereafter,” an official attached with the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD).
On Monday and Tuesday, the empty wagons reached Jolarpet around 1 p.m. and water filling was carried out in four and a half hours.
“Between Friday and Tuesday, 2.5 million litres of water was sent to Chennai using the one trip per day arrangement. Another 50 wagons are coming from Rajasthan and are expected to reach Jolarpet on Wednesday,” an official said.
Though there are two lines for operation, the route from Jolarpet to Chennai is facing heavy rail traffic.
Heavy rail traffic
Over fifty Express/Super Fast trains from Salem to Chennai, several trains from Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Trivandrum, Ernakulam, Kochi and other destinations from Kerala take the route between Jolarpet and Chennai.
“Once the railway officials clear the route, it will be possible for the two trains to make two trips, thus completing the target of 10 million litres of water per day,” the official added.
