Water treatment plant at Tirupati station to be ready by March.

The Tirupati railway station is all set to get a water treatment plant at an estimated outlay of Rs. 4 crore to recycle the used water.

Coming up near the foot over-bridge connecting the station to the TTD's Vishnu Nivasam pilgrim complex, the plant will have two units with an installed capacity to treat 4 lakh litres each. Given the influx of passengers arriving into and departing from the temple city, the station has become a water-intensive location that consumes a large quantity of water. “Recycling helps process the used water and convert it into reusable input for cleaning purposes,” said Additional Divisional Railway Manager (Guntakal) K.V. Subbarayudu. The plant is expected to be ready by March and the recycled water will be used to clean the coaches, platforms and for watering the gardens.

Mr. Subbarayudu interacted with The Hindu during the course of his inspection at the Renigunta railway junction on Sunday, when he listed out the various facilities coming to Tirupati. The Tiruchanur halt would be developed as a B-class railway station and made a terminating point for some express trains, so as to de-congest the existing station. Similarly, the area on the southern side has been developed to construct the sixth platform and also open an entrance for the benefit of the residents living south of the city. On the Bogie Components Manufacturing Unit proposed at Thottambedu near Srikalahasti, Mr. Subbarayudu said that it would help meet the railways' demand for supply of small components.

He later inspected the Railway Institute, railway hospital, booking office and other areas in the station. Additional Chief Medical Superintendent Dr. B. Surendra Naik, Assistant Divisional Engineer, Renigunta P. Srinivas, traffic inspector (Renigunta) G. Jayanth Kumar and senior section engineer Madhava Rao accompanied him.

THE HINDU