Leaking taps, a common sight at Egmore railway station

Chennai: At a time when the city is reeling under water scarcity, water splashing from pipes and taps in various places at Chennai Egmore railway station speaks of the lackadaisical attitude of the railway officials when it comes to water conservation.

“Most days I see at least 4-5 taps leaking and water flowing in the tracks or platforms for hours together,” said T. Veermani, a regular passenger on this route. Water is also widely used for day-to-day purposes by people who have encroached railway space near the tracks, built small tents near it and use the space for washing and drying cloths.

Railway officials blame it on holes in the fencing around Egmore station and the quality of steel pipes that were installed 20 years ago. “Most of these pipes are old, rarely maintained with taps that are loosely fixed that can be easily used by outsiders,” a maintenance official in southern railway said.

On Monday, five taps attached to the steel pipe, which supplies water to Egmore railway station, were leaking and there were water fountains from the leak on many platforms.

“The Railway Protection Force officials have been forcefully evacuating encroachers near the tracks in the front and rear side of the station every month,” said Egmore station manager G. Prabhakaran. These people are using water for drinking, bathing and cooking, he said. In platform-7 and platform-9, water taps are either dry or the existing taps are leaking allowing water to flow on to the platform.

“The pipes that are been used needs to be changed urgently and we want a new water pipe system like the one implemented in stations like Vijayawada,” said K. Venkatasubhramanyam, senior mechanical engineer, Southern Railways.