Shocking! Toilet water used for cooking food in trains: Its high time Modi Govt walks

[V.Balasubramani]

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Shocking! Toilet water used for cooking food in trains: Its high time Modi Govt walks the talk

New Delhi, Feb 19: At a time when Narendra Modi government is brainstorming over ways to make Indian Railways world class, but standards of the basic amenities and hygiene in the state-owned carrier has barely improved.

In a shocking report, rail authorities are reportedly playing with the lives of passengers travelling in the national carrier by compromising over hygiene.

Reports claim that the food which is being catered to the passengers in train is cooked in water which is used in toilets. This sensational revelation has been made by private news channel News 24 after it did a review of Pashchim Express (PE).


In the investigation it was found that the pantry staff is using water stored in toilet tanks, in the train, for kneading floor and cooking rice. Ironically, Pashchim Express is said to be an elite train running on Delhi and Mumbai route.

When the pantry manager was asked about the same he refused to comment over the matter. However, the railway officials have not come up with any formal statement so far.

Read more at: Shocking! Toilet water used for cooking food in trains: Its high time Modi Govt walks the talk - Oneindia

 

[prasad1]

Sir,
According our BJP mouthpiece you must not read anything except BJP Manifesto, that too only after checking with this individual.
http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/genera...ng-up-hindi-hindu-extremism-2.html#post286775

 

[tbs]

Shocking! Toilet water used for cooking food in trains: Its high time Modi Govt walks the talk

New Delhi, Feb 19: At a time when Narendra Modi government is brainstorming over ways to make Indian Railways world class, but standards of the basic amenities and hygiene in the state-owned carrier has barely improved.

In a shocking report, rail authorities are reportedly playing with the lives of passengers travelling in the national carrier by compromising over hygiene.

Reports claim that the food which is being catered to the passengers in train is cooked in water which is used in toilets. This sensational revelation has been made by private news channel News 24 after it did a review of Pashchim Express (PE).


In the investigation it was found that the pantry staff is using water stored in toilet tanks, in the train, for kneading floor and cooking rice. Ironically, Pashchim Express is said to be an elite train running on Delhi and Mumbai route.

When the pantry manager was asked about the same he refused to comment over the matter. However, the railway officials have not come up with any formal statement so far.

Read more at: Shocking! Toilet water used for cooking food in trains: Its high time Modi Govt walks the talk - Oneindia

hi


NOTHING SHOCKING...MAY BE THIS IS HAPPENING FOR A LONG TIME...YEH HINDUSTHAAN HAI BHAAI......YAHAAM SUB KUCH CHALTA HAI....

 

[Raji Ram]

What is so shocking NOW?

See the message in this link: Think Before Drinking tea while travelling by Indian Railway

Photo courtesy: Google images

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Sir,

We change the ruling Government,

These Government do change the Minister looking after Railways,

Minister’s concerned change the Chairman, Board Members,

Even the General Managers of the Zonal Railways and the Divisonal Officers are changed.

While everything change, there is no visible change in such lapses on the part of the Railway staff.

Why?? Who is to blame, the horse or the jockey?

 

[krish44]

where pantry cars in trains can get water.?

water in trains is filled in overhead water tanks of coaches including pantry.

this is fiiltered water.

if tanks are rusty , then there is an issues.

if water is collected from these tanks and used after boiling as is done for making tea or coffee it is safe as boiling

water kills many bacteria.If the same is used in steaming cookers for rice, it is safe enough.

infection is more due to dirty improperly washed plates or spoons.

sometimes oone gets poisoned due to bad food

these are travelling hazards.

Most take them in their stride and refuse to get shocked.

repeated exposure to bad food hardens our systems and we can digest even stones after a few train trips

need to be shock proof if one wants to enjoy life

 

[sarang]

The author has cleverly worded the article without specifics, just to snsationalize and confuse and misrepresent.
1. All water used in the pantry car or any other carriage is stored in overhead tanks or under the carriage tanks and pushed under pressure when tap is opened. The kitchen in the car has its own taps and sink, for drawing water.
2. The writer seems to imply that water was collected from the taps in toilet when he says toilet water is used, a clever play with words to titillate soda log, who readily bite the bait.
3. In all apartment complexes (and in individual houses too), one overhead tank supplies water to the toilets, baths, kitchen and utility rooms too. Some societies have a separate pipe line for the kitchen, and some have a separate tank exclusively for kitchen sink.
4. Pantry car kitchen is as clean or unclean as any average restaurant.

Before jumping to blame modi or the railway ministry or the administration, one must get a proper technical report which addresses the issues and not jump with joy. Or a complaint to the railway administration may help in understanding the problem and its resolution. I am sure the journalist has not done, because his job is to pander to the likes of belly burners.

 

[krish44]

sarangji
there are some permanent fault finders in this forum

they simply post without thinking or analysing an issue

they write opposite of views of others and try to bask in reflected glory.

they also like to sensationalise.

they are best ignored.

 

[Raji Ram]

Dear Sarang Sir,

I have seen the tea preparation near the toilet and the huge flask kept inside the toilet to make way for the passers by!

It is also said that frequent use of paper cups coated with wax and some chemicals is bad for the digestive system. But,

we Indians are strong and can digest anything, seems to be!!

 

[V.Balasubramani]

need to be shock proof if one wants to enjoy life

What could be the standard of the food that is being prepared out of the water meant for cleaning the coaches?

We have here one arm chair revolutionary Member who will go to the extent of suggesting that one should have a disease proof stomach/alimentary canal to enjoy travel in Indian Railways.

What is the role of Railways in extending facilities to the general public? Every public avails train travel only after paying through his nose. Is it not the duty of Railways to ensure hygiene in food catered to the passengers?

I think the Member who talks about filtered water, etc absolutely seems to have no idea about the ‘water borne diseases’ and I think he undertake travels only without a water can.

There are Members here who preach others and don’t follow self. Such Members will insist for ‘Bisleri’ even rejecting the ‘Rail Neer’ Water Bottles provided by IRCTC.

This Member is now talking about 'thinking and analysing of posts' which is more funny. He has just admitted in an earlier thread that his fingers are fast and typed texts without application of mind etc.

Let him go through the link furnished hereunder before defending the Railways for their poor service especially with regard to providing quality food prepared under hygienic condition.

Look what the Railway report says about the standard of food that is being provided to passengers.

Cockroaches, bugs in food: Railways admits serious lapses in catering

In a shocking revelation about the pathetic condition of catering services in Indian Railways, CNN-IBN has accessed a railways report that exposes how food is prepared in filthy conditions. The report says that the food served in trains is cooked in dirty, smelly and waterlogged pantry cars.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cockroaches-bugs-in-food-railways-admits-serious-lapses-in-catering/384864-3.html

 

[krish44]

I have travelled by indian railways for almost a life time.

I have taken the food that they have provided .

I have not got food poisoning even once.

at best one might end up with indigestion .

nothing a couple of medicine tablets cannot cure.

tere are more chances of getting food poisoning in hotels .

there is no sense in over reacting to news items presenting scary stories.

all public services are regularly run down

state transport buses,trains ,air india.

they provide the cheapest mode of transportation to indian public.

one should admire them instead of criticizing them all the time.

 

[sarang]

Mcdonad, subway, dominos - all have faced problems of rat, mice and cockroaches in the premises and in the food supplied. One domino outlet was using the delivery box in the two wheeler for carrying garbage. All roadside 'kaiendi bhawans' clean plates with newspaper and used water. As RRji said, tea cans and dinner plates are kept on the floor in the corridor or in the passage between toilets. No doubt that these practices are to be stopped and alternates found. Now passengers can e-order food and get it delivered packed in aluminium foil. In face it is served in prepacked form for many years.

What smacks is the hypocrisy of the media and the modi hating brigade is the alacrity and glee in the soda log to hype such instances to ridiculous and perverted levels - like toilet water used for cooking and washing. If common tank is the issue, then 90% of indians are using toilet water for cooking; the infrequent visitors can insist on their hosts use 20 litre canned water for cooking, and 1 litre bisleri for hand washing (after toilet tissue)!

 

[V.Balasubramani]

there is no sense in over reacting to news items presenting scary stories.

It is neither scary story nor over reaction as reported. It is Railways own report that confirms the lapses in providing a quality food to the passengers who pays for it.

The truth is always bitter but only few have the necessary guts to swallow.

Others come here with blah blah theory which is nothing but unsustainable defence.

Think about the babies and aged senior citizens who also travel every day. Only God has to save them by bestowing with enough immune to fight such menace.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

one should admire them instead of criticizing them all the time.

/QUOTE]

Go through the CAG report against the Railways for not maintaining cleanliness which is self-explanatory.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ntaining-cleanliness/articleshow/21804205.cms

If you very anxious to look for similar reports of Public Accounts Committee on not maintaining cleanliness and sanitation in Indian Railways, use Google search Engine and find out yourself.

Don’t come here to defend those who are paid from public exchequer and sleep over their duties and responsibilities.


Do you have any idea about the privileges enjoyed by railways staff ?

One among other privileges is that - 25 lakh railway employees in working group and 11 lakh retired employees are currently enjoying the privileges of free ride!

 

[JR]

This is not related to food and beverages sold at Indian trains, however relates to some practices prevalent in India (as I observed in some videos circulated among FB users a while ago):

1. The bottle water sold near train stations may not be the 'pure and sanitized' water that you expect! I watched a video showing a woman filling plain tap water from a dirty and old bucket into these bottles (used ones from before) and sealing the cap!

2. The roadside 'juicy' watermelons and fruits during summertime may not be really that juicy! I watched video showing how watermelon and other fruits are 'injected' with chemicals and colorants rendering them more flavor and richer color!

Anyways, I would be cautious on where I purchase my product for consumption!

 

[prasad1]

Going back to oroginal post.
I agree with Krishji,

On the reading the OP, again, we all use the same water that goes to toilet. That is not toilet water.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Prasad Ji,

The Indian Standard Specification for drinking water is given in the link:

http://hppcb.gov.in/eiasorang/spec.pdf

It is the overhead tank water that is distributed to the pantry car, toilet, etc.

The point in question is how safe is this water. This is, the water that used by the railways to clean the coaches, clean the dishes and for all other purposes is used for preparation food items consumed by the travelling public.

The argument that since water gets boiled while preparing food items will not hold any water as there are few dishes which requires no boiling of water at all. For example ‘Chutney’ is a side dish that is prepared using ‘plain’ water/raw water and served with idli, dosa, pongal, vada, etc

And nobody knows including the railways whether the water used by them in the overhead tank meets the specification of drinking standard prescribed by the Government.

Without knowing any facts, we have one Member here come and write blah blah.

If the Railways are confident that the water that is being used for cleaning coaches, cleaning dishes and for preparation of food item is so clean, why do they market ‘Rail Neer’ packed in bottles??

So now the point is how safe is using the overhead tank water for preparation food items?

What prevents the IRCTC using the quality drinking water like 'Rail Neer' for preparation of food items?

 

[krish44]

train has been the mode of transport of most for long journeys.

how many have got poisoned an died of consuming food on indian railways.

I have hardly heard of anyone dying of bad food.

more die of malnutrition and starvation in many backward districts in india


Some elitist want probably five star food with ralneer preferably free on indian railways

Tamilnadu is notorious for expecting freebies.

they can offer free food on southern railway during next election to get votes.lol

 

[V.Balasubramani]

I have hardly heard of anyone dying of bad food.

The funny thing is even Delhiities are now seems to be following Tamil Nadu and have voted only the Party that has promised more freebies.

Probably those who have no health consciousness blatantly ignore food safety measures and can close their eyes for bad qualities of food offered by anybody.

The mantra is prevention is better than cure.

As usual, this Member seems to be wandering in dreamland and do write posting without knowing the ground reality.lol

Let him go through the link given hereunder.

It is happening now and then.

24 passengers fall ill after consuming railway food, protest at Mughalsarai station

Mughalsarai: Twenty four passengers travelling on the Purvanchal Express from New Delhi to Howrah has fallen ill after they ate food from the railways pantry. The condition of five passengers is believed to be critical.

Irritated passengers got off the train in Mughal Sarai station in Uttar Pradesh to protest. "The food was stinking. They didn't accept our complaint," one of the passengers said.

"When we opened the food parcel, it was stinking badly. After consuming the food, most children and old people fell sick. When we complained in the morning, they didn't take the complaint," said another passenger.

24 passengers fall ill after consuming railway food, protest at Mughalsarai station - IBNLive


P.S: This Member is requested to 'think and analyse' before typing such postings which are far from facts.

 

[Raji Ram]

Going back to oroginal post.
I agree with Krishji,

On the reading the OP, again, we all use the same water that goes to toilet. That is not toilet water.

It is the same water but it is bad to take that same water from a toilet tap!

We all know how those toilets appear! Yucks to think of, how those taps would have been 'touched' by people!

 

[krish44]

The funny thing is even Delhiities are now seems to be following Tamil Nadu and have voted only the Party that has promised more freebies.

Probably those who have no health consciousness blatantly ignore food safety measures and can close their eyes for bad qualities of food offered by anybody.

The mantra is prevention is better than cure.

As usual, this Member seems to be wandering in dreamland and do write posting without knowing the ground reality.lol

Let him go through the link given hereunder.

It is happening now and then.

24 passengers fall ill after consuming railway food, protest at Mughalsarai station

Mughalsarai: Twenty four passengers travelling on the Purvanchal Express from New Delhi to Howrah has fallen ill after they ate food from the railways pantry. The condition of five passengers is believed to be critical.

Irritated passengers got off the train in Mughal Sarai station in Uttar Pradesh to protest. "The food was stinking. They didn't accept our complaint," one of the passengers said.

"When we opened the food parcel, it was stinking badly. After consuming the food, most children and old people fell sick. When we complained in the morning, they didn't take the complaint," said another passenger.

24 passengers fall ill after consuming railway food, protest at Mughalsarai station - IBNLive


P.S: This Member is requested to 'think and analyse' before typing such postings which are far from facts.

the passengers complained only next morning which indicates nothing serious

nobody croaks really'

these things happen elsewhere also if one consumes food anywhere.

hundreds of trains run everyday carrying lakhs of people.

there is no sense whatever in blowing things out of proportion.

what are your chances of travelling in such a train called purvanchal express in some god forsaken part of india where getting food itself is an issue for many there

if one looks for lapses one can find millions. Wisdom lies in making a judicious judgement and take what appears least harmful instead of complaining with no

worthwhile results

 

[prasad1]

Prasad Ji,

The Indian Standard Specification for drinking water is given in the link:

http://hppcb.gov.in/eiasorang/spec.pdf

It is the overhead tank water that is distributed to the pantry car, toilet, etc.

The point in question is how safe is this water. This is, the water that used by the railways to clean the coaches, clean the dishes and for all other purposes is used for preparation food items consumed by the travelling public.

What prevents the IRCTC using the quality drinking water like 'Rail Neer' for preparation of food items?

I agree with you, water used must be safe.
The water that comes in truck to home, how safe is that?
The food that we eat in restaurant and other places, how safe is it?
In India when we eat or drink outside the home it is always "Ram Bharose".

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Krish Ji,

Your posting No.21 conveys nothing new except the usual ‘அரைச்ச மாவு’ with usual addition of masala words like ‘blown out of proportion’, ‘over reaction’, etc etc

It also clearly conveys your ‘my way or high way’ attitude.

Please note that it is not அன்னதானம் or charity offered by the Railways to the passengers. Every food item is priced and passenger pays for it. When the railways collect money for each food item, it is its bounden duty to ensure quality food is served in return.

I have already furnished reports of CAG to establish my point on deficiency in service by railways in maintaining cleanliness and sanitation.

I have already furnished news reports which are nothing but facts to establish the way how passengers are provided with food which are not fit for consumption.

You have nothing to substantiate your stand.

You now want the passenger to compromise with the quality and hygiene of the food which is nothing but strange. One can compromise on anything but definitely not on the quality and hygiene.

Just go through this news item which is Bonus……..

IRCTC fined by Railways for ‘bad food’

IRCTC was fined Rs. 1 lakh as a cockroach was found in the food in Kolkata Rajdhani on July 23, said an official

Railways have imposed heavy fines totalling Rs 11.50 lakh on nine caterers including IRCTC for serving “bad quality” food in trains.
“We had launched a special drive in the last month to detect quality of food being served on different trains. We found bad quality food on some trains and action was taken against caterers accordingly,” a senior Railway Ministry official said.

Besides Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), RK Associates, Sunshine Caterers, Satyam Caterers, Brandavan Food Products were among those fined.

“IRCTC was fined Rs. 1 lakh as a cockroach was found in the food in Kolkata Rajdhani on July 23,” the official said adding, “bad food was found in 13 trains“.

Besides Kolkata Rajdhani, other trains covered during the special drive include Paschim Express, Pushpak Express, Motihari Express, Shiv Ganga Express, Golden Temple Mail, Netravati Express, Punjab Mail, Howrah-Amritsar Mail and Chandigarh Shatabdi.
While in some trains food was found to be kept in unhygienic conditions, in others it was either found to be stale or substandard, the official said, adding, fines ranging from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh have been imposed.

Read more at: IRCTC fined by Railways for ?bad food? - The Hindu


Don’t come here to justify such poor service of railway caterers. There is no point in discussing on this when one is not sensitive to quality and hygiene.

BTW do you have any idea as to what IRCTC stands for?

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Here is an another instance of serving 'bad food' and imposing fine.

Konkan Railway imposes fine on caterer for poor quality food

MANGALORE: In line with a decision taken by Union railway minister D V Sadananda Gowda to fine caterers who supply poor quality food on trains, Konkan Railway took what it termed in an unprecedented step of imposing an exemplary fine of Rs 1 lakh on one of its catering contractors whose services were found deficient. The catering contractor was duly fined following complaints of poor quality of food.

A Konkan railway communique here stated generally catering service provided to passengers in trains managed by Konkan Railway are immensely appreciated by passengers for its quality. Constant monitoring of quality of food is done by Konkan Railway officials to ensure that the same is maintained. However, on receipt of complaints, Konkan Railway resorted to impose a heavy fine to confirm its commitment to passengers for better services.

Konkan Railway will take prompt and effective action based on passenger's suggestions and complaints, the communique added.

Source: Konkan Railway imposes fine on caterer for poor quality food - The Times of India?

 

[V.Balasubramani]

[h=1]Passengers hold up train to protest bad food, hygiene[/h]
BHOPAL: Angry passengers forced an unscheduled halt of 12270 Chennai-Duronto for more than hour at Bhopal railway station on Wednesday evening, protesting against poor food quality and lack of hygiene in coaches. Passengers also complained of being threatened by pantry staff.

There are no commissioned halts of the train between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Chennai, only operational stops at Jhansi and Itarsi. The train departed 16 hours late from Nizamuddin on Wednesday morning. Passengers complained to pantry staff at Jhansi station about bad food being served. But no complaint was received and this forced passengers to pull the chain at Bhopal station. More than 100 passengers got down into the tracks, created ruckus and shouted slogans.

One of the passengers, Sunil Kumar Sangwan, said, "When I complained to pantry staff, he started noting down names and numbers and threatened us. They said once the train enters south India, we would be taught a lesson."

Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...est-bad-food-hygiene/articleshow/45714667.cms


P.S: There are lot of instances to cite. Hope the Member will learn the real thing by going though such news items and change his mind at least now.