Railway stops use of potable water to clean platform, track

PUNE: The Central Railway (Pune division) administration has taken steps to ensure no potable water supplied by the civic body was used to wash platforms and tracks at Pune station.
The administration said it was extracting water from a borewell for daily cleaning activities on the station premises.
The authorities are also installing two sewage water treatment plants at Pune and Ghorpadi stations to utilize recycled water for non-potable activities.
A senior administrative official stated, “ Pune is listed as an A1 category station with operation of over 150 trains and footfall of one lakh commuters on a daily basis. Water is mainly required to fulfill passengers’ drinking water needs, wash coaches and platforms. To wash tracks and platforms, which is essential to maintain hygiene at station, we use water from the borewell.”
Every day, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) supplies about 14 lakh litre water to the railway station.
“The entire quota of water from PMC is supplied through taps at platforms and used to refill water in trains. In addition, there is a daily requirement for about 1 to 1.5 lakh litre water for washing activities. This demand is being met through a borewell located at the central cabin on the station premises. Water from the borewell is supplied to a storage tank with a capacity of 50,000 litres. It gets supplied further as per requirement,” the official said.
Railway authorities affirmed that they have asked the cleaning staff to restrict wastage of water apart from appealing to commuters to help keep the station premises clean.
Of two sewage water treatment units, the one at Pune station is likely to be commissioned by June. Each plant will have the capacity to recycle 3.5 lakh litre sewage water.