If you have boarded a train at Bangalore City Station, don’t be surprised to find there’s no water in the toilet or the wash basin tap is dry. If taps at the platform are dry, it could mean the station has not received its regular supply of water.
   The station has been facing water crunch for the last last two months, with the BWSSB playing ‘truant’. The station needs 30 lakh litres of water everyday, for which it pays the BWSSB Rs 5-10 crore per year.
   If the supply is hit even for a few hours, it leads to chaos at platforms and trains. Though the station has water storage facility, it isn’t enough to meet the demand.
   There are 74 trains emanating from the station. “When water supply is affected, we fill half the amount of water from our facility in the trains. It’s not enough, but that’s the best we can do. Often trains leave without water and we request the next station to fill the water. It delays the train and the station may also not have sufficient amount of water because it may not be a ‘watering station’,” Divisional Railway Manager Mahesh Mangal told Deccan Herald.
   On Tuesday, water supply to the station was disrupted for four hours. “We had to manage with whatever water we had but it wasn’t enough. We receive many complaints from passengers. Some even pull the chain and don’t allow trains to move further.”
   The station has a recycling plant to meet the demands of washing coaches. Though it can recycle 10 lakh litres of water each day, it currently processes six lakh litres of water a day. “Cut in water supply also affects the recycling plant. Sometimes water taps go dry and platforms are left dirty because there’s no water to wash them,” said Mr Mangal.
   BWSSB supplies water to the station from two sides; Malleswaram and the station itself. “They cut the supply from Malleswaram side. When we call them, they say they will restore the water supply. They do it but by then the harm is done. They tell us the supply was hit due to some maintenance work or a broken pipe or valve,” said Mr Mangal.
   He said if the problem continues, we may have to resort to drilling a borewell or increase water storage capacity.
   The BWSSB said the water supply to the station was hit on Tuesday because of a broken valve. “Other than that incident, we have not received any complaints from the railway authorities,” said the officer.