This water train keeps life going in Pali

JODHPUR:The public health and engineering department supplying drinking water to remoteareas through tankers during summer is quite normal in Rajasthan. But what isunusual is the PHED supplying drinking water to Pali, a district headquarters,with the help of trains, which bring water from Jodhpur, 70 kilometres away.Referred to as Quick Bulk Water Supply Mechanism,' Pali is beingsupplied water through train since 2001-02 whenever their main source of water,the Jawai Dam dries up, said PHED executive engineer R K Bishnoi.Infact, Jodhpur has abundant water since the arrival of himalayan water throughthe Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal in 1998. According to Bishnoi, a massive exercise isinvolved in supplying water through train right from managing the wagons tosupplying the water to the end user.The demand of water first comesto the PHED, which approaches the railway headquarters and the railway board.Even for the railway, this is not a usual business like the goods trainscarrying oil. PRO, Jodhpur division, Northwestern Railway, Gopal Sharma says therailway then explores the availability of the wagons and when the wagons reachthe destination, PHED is is informed. The PHED then undertakes a quality checkof these wagons to ensure quality of water through a separate wing. "Sometimes,we get the wagons used for oil transportation, which needs chemical treatment tomake them suitable for drinking water transportation," hesaid.According to sources, the first such train was introduced forJodhpur in 1986, when all the sources of water in Jodhpur dried up and thedrinking water requirement was met by a "water train" from a nearby town, Pipar,which was connected to a water project then. Later, when the mainsource of water for Pali district, the Jawai Dam, dried up in 2001-02, the trainwas again put into use. Since then, including this year, a water trainconsisting 72 wagons, each bearing 25,000 liters of water, has ferried water toPali from Jodhpur many times. For the distribution of the water, thePHED has made special lines at Jodhpur and Pali railway stations including somenecessary fitments on the wagons. Apart from paying the railwayRs 3.5 lakh per round, PHED has to pay an annual lease to the railways for thedistribution lines. According to Sharma, in 2004-05, the railway did not chargeanything considering it to be a social initiative. But then in 2006-07, the PHEDcould not escape the financial liability despite request. This year, a similar requestwas sent to the railways but no confirmation has so far been received by thePHED as the train has been suspended from July 21 in the wake of the arrival ofmonsoon and the rising water level in Jawai Dam close to 17 feet aftercontinuous plying for 82 days starting from 1 May this year costing the PHEDapproximately Rs 4 crore.