Mumbaikars won't go thirsty at Central Railway stations anymore; 35 water machines to be installed soon

A water dispenser on a CR station in February 2018

Days after mid-day highlighted the plight of commuters who have no access to affordable drinking water on railway platforms due to dysfunctional water-vending machines, the Central Railway on Tuesday moved to install new ones at 35 locations within a month. "To avoid passenger inconvenience, we have decided to call for tenders," Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

In the absence of these machines, which dispensed drinking water at affordable rates, commuters are forced to shell out more for bottled water

Officals said the water vending machines would be installed at 34 stations. Thane, which sees a higher commuter footfall, will get two such machines. The dispensers will come up at major stations on the main line, harbour line, the Diva-Vasai line, Matheran, and even remote Pen, Kalamboli, Kasara and Lonavala. The machines will remain in place for five years, they said.

A dead water machine at Dadar. Commuters say they simply take up space

Earlier, mid-day had front-paged the lack of affordable drinking water, one of the most essential amenities at a railway station, at stations. This was at a time when the temperatures in the city were hovering around 40 degrees Celsius. It highlighted dysfunctional water vending machines that had been installed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Disused and neglected during the COVID pandemic, the machines today display a board that says "non-operational". The zonal railways had said it had no details of these, saying they had been installed by the IRCTC, while the latter put the onus on the former.

The machines were first brought in June 2015 to provide cold, potable drinking water at much cheaper rates than bottled water. Railway officials said these non-functional machines will eventually be removed.

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Number of new water machines that will come up at Thane