Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

Reverse osmosis plants, a boon for passengers at railway station

M.Justin Vijaykumar, traveller: “An awareness should be created among the people of the need to prevent wastage of purified water.”

S. Fathimaraj, a resident: “Taps supplying ordinary water should be established near treatment plants to check wastage.”

—PhotoS: M. Moorthy.

SAFE: The new purified drinking water facility at Tiruchi Railway Junction.

TIRUCHI: The railway junction here has got a facelift recently, with the railways creating various infrastructure.

One of the major facilities is commissioning of the reverse osmosis plants for supply of purified drinking water, which is a boon for passengers.

The other passenger friendly amenities include beautification and decongestion of circulating area, landscaping, upgrading of retiring rooms and improving lighting facilities, AC waiting hall for upper class passengers, pay and use AC waiting hall for all class passengers, new extensions to the shelters of platforms, electronic fare repeater systems at the reserved and unreserved ticket booking counters, new look booking office area, etc.

While two plants have been established on platform 1, the main platform, one each has been set up on island platforms 2, 3, 4 and 5. Each can treat 1,000 litres of Cauvery water per hour and 20,000 litres per day. The railway administration spent Rs.5 lakh for each “membrane-based water purification” plant.

The plants on platform 1 have been set up near the air-conditioned lounge and near the Higginbothams stall. Each plant has an overhead tank to store 1,000 litres of treated water.

Water booths with a cluster of pipes have been fixed close to each plant through which purified water is being supplied. No manpower is required to switch on and off the plants.

This facility has also been created in Puducherry, Thanjavur and Mayiladuturai stations.

Works on the plants have already been completed in Villupuram junction and Srirangam station and are likely to be commissioned soon. The Vriddhachalam junction and Ariyalur station will also get this facility shortly, according to sources.

At a time when distilled water in bottles costs from Rs.10 onwards, the railways has been providing quality potable drinking water free of cost.

A common complaint is that the precious purified water is being wasted other than drinking purposes.

It is felt that the railways can avoid wastage by displaying boards mentioning that the water needs to be used only for drinking purposes.

The supply of the treated water has been restricted to the taps close to the treatment plants.

A cross section of people feels that the railways can step up the capacity of the plant to provide purified water in all the taps on the platforms.

While welcoming plants at the junction, M. Justin Vijaykumar, a frequent traveller, suggests that the authorities install signboards indicating the taps at different points. The railway administration can create an awareness among travellers of the supply of treated water through the public address system and closed circuit television sets.

S. Fathimaraj, a resident, feels taps supplying ordinary water should be set up close to the ones supplying treated water to check the wastage of purified water. The facility could be extended to stations such as Kumbakonam, Nagapattinam, Chidambaram and Tiruvarur where the flow of pilgrims is more.

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