Bokaro: Railway officials seized 70 cartons of packaged mineral water bottles from Bokaro railway station premises on Monday. The bottles were seized as they were not authorised from sale on station premises, officials said. The consignment was detected by area railway manager (ARM) Vineet Kumar during an inspection.The bottles were seized after it was found that they lacked the mandatory “For Rail Use” marking and were not among the brands approved for railway consumption.Kumar said, “The unauthorised water bottles were found lying on Platforms 2 and 3 during a routine inspection.” The vendors involved in selling the bottles escaped from the spot after the officials intervened. The railway team seized the entire stock and handed it over to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) for further legal proceedings.The ARM said railways have strict guidelines regarding the sale of packaged drinking water at stations and inside trains. “Railways allow passengers to buy drinking water at a fixed affordable price of Rs 14. Only authorised vendors can sell approved brands on railway premises. The seized bottles were from unauthorised brands and were not licensed for railway use,” he said.The water bottles were allegedly meant for supplying to passengers on board the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Purushottam Express. The seizure was made shortly before the arrival of the New Delhi-bound Jharkhand Swarnajayanti Express.Officials suspect that the bottles may have been entering railway premises through an unauthorised supply network. The RPF and GRP have been asked to investigate the source of the stock and identify those involved.
The water bottles did not have the mandatory ‘For Rail Use’ markings and were not among the brands approved for railway consumption, officials said
