Hyderabad: In a bid to prevent fleecing of train passengers, the South Central Railway is installing water vending machines at all stations in phases for purified drinking water at lower prices.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited has installed manual WVMs at some stations in Hyderabad division last year and is procuring fully automated machines to be installed at Secunderabad and other divisions.
A one-litre purified drinking water bottle, ordinarily available for Rs 15-20, is sold by vendors and hawkers at stations at Rs 20-25. The WVMs provide a 300-ml glass of water at Rs 1, and additional Rs 2 if the passenger wants a disposable glass.
IRCTC joint general manager D.L.V.S.S. Verma said the corporation had been installing the machines at SCR stations.
“We installed manual machines in Kacheguda and Nampally. Now we are procuring automated machines. Passengers can drop coins in vending machine and select quantity of water with or without a bottle. On Sunday, we installed a machine at Dharmavaram in Anantapur district and at Tirupati last week. All the railway stations under the jurisdiction of Secunderabad division will have automated WVMs soon,” he said.
