Guwahati: Passengers travelling through Guwahati and Kamakhya railway stations are set to benefit from continued monitoring of drinking-water facilities, with the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) carrying out quality checks at both stations.
The latest round of testing was conducted on September 21, when railway officials collected samples from drinking-water points used by passengers. The exercise was aimed at checking whether the available water met the prescribed quality requirements.
At Guwahati railway station, a sample collected from the waiting hall underwent a detailed examination. The testing covered parameters such as pH, turbidity, hardness, nitrate, iron, chloride, alkalinity, fluoride, calcium and residual free chlorine.
The test report showed that the Guwahati station sample remained within the specified limits for the parameters examined.
Similar checks were conducted at Kamakhya railway station, where two filtered-water samples were collected from different passenger-use locations. One was taken from Vat No. 3 at Platform No. 1, while the second sample came from Vat No. 2 serving Platforms No. 2 and 3.
The available physicochemical test results for the Kamakhya samples were also reported to be within the prescribed limits. In addition to chemical and physical testing, bacteriological examination was undertaken to check for possible microbial contamination.
NFR said water-quality surveillance is accompanied by routine maintenance of the infrastructure used to supply drinking water at its stations. This includes cleaning water-storage tanks and checking coolers, pipelines, taps and other components of the water-supply system.
According to the railway, corrective measures are taken when inspections identify any shortcomings. Regular collection of samples, laboratory analysis and monitoring of residual chlorine are also part of the railway’s ongoing water-safety measures.
The monitoring programme is intended to maintain hygienic drinking-water facilities for both railway passengers and personnel, particularly at busy stations such as Guwahati and Kamakhya.
