Railways' only own brand water at stations diktat raises commuter fury

It's double whammy for suburban railway commuters. As if the searing October heat is not enough, thousands of commuters are left with parched throats since Sunday, thanks to an ad hoc decision by the railways to sell only its own Rail Neer brand (manufactured by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) of packaged drinking water at stations.

Both the Central and Western Railways have issued the circular that warns of penalties, if stall owners violate the diktat. Since one of the four Rail Neer plants nation-wide, at Ambernath, which supplies drinking water to the western zone, has been under-utilised, bottled water was unavailable at almost all railway stalls.

The demand for Rail Neer was about 2,500 cases (each case holds 12 bottles) before the circular. Now, it is between 10,000-12,000 cases. IRCTC officials admit that it will take some time to revv up production.

The 'only-Rail Neer' diktat came after the CBI raids on a couple of senior Northern Railway officials and seven private firms – accused of thwarting Rail Neer supply at stations for bribes from private bottling firms and caterers.

Dipesh Tank, a regular commuter, said: "On Sunday, I was surprised that the entire Vile Parle railway station did not have a single bottle of packaged water. Stall owners told me that there was no supply. Since I was very thirsty, I got off at Andheri. I got the same answer there also. Finally, I had to go out of the station to buy water." Tank added that he saw several people asking for water but being told that there was none.

Minesh Shah, a Borivli resident, too, had the same experience. "I was shocked on being told by a stall owner at Bandra that there was no bottle of water and he offered me water kept in a dirty-looking mug that I refused. How can the railways take decisions without keeping commuter interest in mind? The railways knows that since only railway stalls sell bottles on MRP, several people would prefer to buy water from platforms."

Meanwhile, senior railway officials said that the IRCTC-run Rail Neer plant has already increased production and will be able to meet the rise in demand. "It was a circular in 2001 that made it mandatory for all railway stalls and pantry cars to sell only Rail Neer, but post the CBI raids, the railway board issued a new circular. Since there was a scam involved, no one wants to take a chance and it has been implemented," said a senior railway official.

On water shortage, an IRCTC official said: "Our staff that used to work in a single shift is now working in three shifts. While we are able to produce high quantity of Rail Neer, supply to every station on WR and CR and other logistics need fine-tuning. It will take a couple of more days."