Lakhs of rail track maintainers are yet to get insulated water bottles of two-litre capacity despite the Railway Ministry's instruction to this effect to its 17 zones in April and a reminder around a month later, claimed the All India Railway Track Maintainers Union.

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In some divisions, where the distribution of water bottles has started, the union has alleged that the bottles were of inferior quality.

According to the union, which represents over four lakh track maintainers, various railway divisions in zones such as Western, North-Eastern, North Central, Central and West Central among others have not even started the distribution process.

"The distribution process is yet to begin in the Western Zone," Satish Yadav, the general secretary of AIRTU, Western Railway, said.

Ramnaresh Paswan, the national president of AIRTU, said even the Central Railway has not distributed these water bottles to track maintainers.

"Track maintainers access water from wells, nearby ponds and other sources available in the rural belt and many of them fall sick due to unhygienic and infected water," Paswan, who is also the general secretary of Central Zone's AIRTU, said.

"The Indian Railway fails to provide clean drinking water to those who are ensuring the safety of lakhs of passengers daily," he added.

According to Paswan, the purpose of distributing the insulated water bottle is to enable track maintainers to stay hydrated during intense heat.

"The Railway Ministry issued two instructions in this regard -- on April 9 and a reminder on May 20 -- to all the zones. Despite all that, very few divisions have taken initiatives and a majority of them have yet to abide by the Railway Board's advice," Paswan said.

Rakesh Varma, general secretary, North Eastern Railway (NER), AIRTU, said that in his zone, the distribution started merely 20 days ago and that too only in the Lucknow division.
"The distribution in two other divisions -- Izzatnagar and Varanasi -- is yet to begin," Varma said.

"Even in the Lucknow division, the bottles that have been given to us are of poor quality which cannot keep water cool for more than one or two hours," he said.

According to Yadav, "Now, Monsoon is about to set in and heat conditions have already subsided in many parts of the country. But insulated water bottles of two-litre capacity are nowhere to be seen in many divisions."

AIRTU office bearers say track maintainers play a crucial role in ensuring that trains run safely as they keep a watch on the health of the tracks round the clock, but the government often fails in its promise of providing them with proper facilities.

"We get winter uniforms when winter gets over. The Railway Ministry doesn't realise how laxity on its part makes our life so difficult and challenging. The ministry with over Rs 2.5 lakh crore annual budget cannot ensure such a small but crucial facility to us working day and night to ensure safe train operations," Yadav said.

According to AIRTU, many track maintainers lost their lives due to sunstroke while working.

The Railway Board on April 9 and May 20 asked all its zones and production units to provide insulated water bottles of two-litre capacity to track maintainers in view of the intense heat conditions.

"Keeping in view the ensuing heat condition across the country, the Civil Engineering Directorate has requested to reiterate the instructions regarding the provision of water bottles to the eligible categories of employees," a letter by the board to all zones and production units said.

It added that the water bottles should be of two-litre capacity, "having proper heat insulation so that water can be kept cool for five to six hours."