RAILWAY STATION SERVES FUNGILICIOUS BEVERAGES

Vendors at Ahmedabad Railway Station use fungi-infested water stored in bottles to make tea and coffee. What’s more, the water allegedly comes from the washing lines on the tracks

Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, July 02, 2013 

(http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20130702201307020223487423c80ea9/RAILWAY-STATION-SERVES-FUNGILICIOUS-BEVERAGES.html)
The water used by stalls to prepare beverages is clearly unfit for consumption. While the railways gets premium brands to install their vending machines on the platforms, it fails to conduct quality checks. Vendors do as they please, serving passengers with tea and food prepared using contaminated water
Next time you decide to enjoy a cup of tea while waiting for your train to arrive at Ahmedabad Railway Station, be warned – it might contain fungi, algae or even worms. The water used to prepare tea and other beverages is stored in 20-litre mineral water bottles, which look like they haven’t been cleaned in ages. According to sources, tea vendors at the station use water from the washing lines on the tracks.
“Prominent tea and coffee brands install their vending machines at various stalls on the platform. The vendor has to feed water and milk into the machine to make passenger’s choice of beverage. Though they claim to use mineral water to prepare tea and coffee, the vendors use water from washing lines on the tracks,” sources said. At one such stall on platform 6, Mirror found 20 litre bottles of mineral water covered with fungi. Jagdish, an employee at the stall, claimed: “We use only mineral water to make tea and coffee.”
When it was pointed out to him that the bottle of ‘mineral water’ was covered with fungi, he simply shrugged and said, “Kyarek evu thaai (It happens sometimes). But when the water is boiled inside the machine, the bacteria die. So the water is clean.” Arvind, who was travelling to Delhi with his family, bought tea from the stall for his family members. When this correspondent drew his attention to the bottle from which water was used to make his tea, Arvindo couldn’t believe his eyes. While wasting no time in disposing of the tea, Arvindo said, “I can’t believe railway authorities can be so irresponsible. They claim to be providing the best facilities to passengers.
When they can’t even provide hygienic food and beverages on the platform, how can they make such outrageous claims? Railway should conduct regular quality checks.” Another passenger Suresh Sharma told Mirror: “Railway gets premium brands to install their vending machines on the platforms but fails to conduct quality checks. Vendors do as they please, serving passengers with tea and food made of contaminated water. They cheat us in the name of brand.” While passengers like Arvindo are caught unawares, there are others like Asif Qureshi who has given up hope that things will ever improve.
“For many years now, the vendors use water from tracks to make tea and beverages. But what can passengers do, especially those undertaking long journeys. They have to depend on facilities provided by the railway. Things are never going to change. I always make a point never to buy any stuff from platforms,” said Qureshi. Senior divisional commercial manager, Ahmedabad, Kamlesh Tiwari said, “Nobody has brought the matter to our notice yet. We have been asking stall owners to use clean water. We will conduct an inspection of all the stalls and take appropriate action.”