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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Government to file its latest status report on the issue of providing safe drinking water at all the railway stations.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad allowed 6 weeks time for the status report to be filed and listed the matter for further hearing on November 15.

The order has been passed in a plea filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation through Advocate Prashant Bhushan seeking directions to the Railways to take steps and prepare an action plan for safe drinking water in railway stations and railway colonies.

Earlier, the Central Government had informed the court that the decision has been taken to run a pilot project at the New Delhi Railway Station including the drinking water issues pointed out by the petitioner.

The plea submitted that the Central Government has not been implementing the relevant standard code of drinking water which had

It has been alleged that even the lower standards as prescribed in the Indian Railways Medical Manual are not being followed by the respondents.

The plea made suggestions for improving the quality of drinking water being supplied at the railway stations. Amongst the suggestions are testing for the microbial quality of water which includes, total coliform bacteria with re-sampling and testing for e-coliform/fecal coliform bacteria from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories; prescription of a protocol for monitoring of the water quality at the highest level of the Railway administration.

In view of the above, the Court had earlier noted that given the fact that hundreds of thousands of passengers use the railways and hence the water supplied by it, the issues flagged by the writ petitioner and the suggestions made are certainly of critical importance and deserve attention at the highest level of the respondents.

Case Title: CENTRE FOR PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION Vs. UNION OF INDIA & ANR.