Rly food stall shut over hygiene concerns

Viral Video Shows Vendor Taking Water From Hydrant

Chennai: Southern Railway officials have ordered a probe to check if workers at a food stall on Platform 7 at the Egmore station used water from the hydrant on railway tracks to prepare tea/ milk.

The action came after a video shot by a passenger, showing the stall worker fill a tea kettle with water from the hydrant, went viral on social media over the past two days. This led to users posting on social media that the water, sent to the toilets of trains, was being used to adulterate milk used for making tea and coffee.

On Friday evening, the divisional railway manager of Chennai tweeted that the stall was closed immediately pending an investigation. The tweet also clarified that the salesman had used the water only to refill the outer wall of a double-walled electric milk boiler and not for diluting the milk.

A senior official told TOI that rumours of ‘toilet water’ being used to make tea and coffee at railway stalls were false.

“The salesman seen in the video is filling water from the hydrant, which is supplied by Chennai Metrowater Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB). The same water is available in taps at stations as well,” the official clarified. However, the water cannot be used for mixing with water as it contains chlorine and that it would instantly spoil the milk.

“The water was being used only for the external jacket in the boiler that keeps the milk or tea warm,” the official explained.

For food preparation, only RO water sourced from cans should be used by licensees, the official said. “We conduct periodic checks to ensure there is no drop in quality,” the official said.

However, the official said there were shortcomings in the work habits of catering staff at these stalls. “We have instructed them to avoid such (filling water from hydrant) practices as the public will perceive this as wrong. But in this case, the salesman was lazy and did not go up to the tap to fill water,” he said.

It was the only stall on Platform 7 at Egmore station and ultimately, the passengers would stand to lose by its closure, he said.