The first train, carrying water for Chennai, left for the parched city from Tamil Nadu's Jolarpet railway station on Friday, 12 July, news agency ANI reported.
Earlier, NDTV had said that the railway officials were waiting for clearance from the Chennai Metro Water for the departure. The train, with 50 wagons carrying 50 kilolitres each, will transport 2.5 million litres of water to Chennai, the report said.
To meet its target, of transporting 10 million litres of water to Chennai per day, the railway authorities have engaged two trains. The authorities are trying to supply at least 7.5 million litres a day to begin with.
The Southern Railways will charge Chennai Metro Water Rs 7.5 lakh for each trip. The Tamil Nadu government has allotted Rs 65 crore for this project.
Officials have said that these trains would take around five hours to reach Chennai's Villivakkam, 220 km away, from where water would be pumped to the Kilpauk Water Works.
The trains cannot, however, solve the water crisis in Chennai, but only ease the pressure on the state government to ensure a minimum supply of 525 million litres to its residents, NDTV reported.
The report further said that a function has been planned at the Villivakkam railway station to receive the first water train. State minister SP Velumani and a few others are expected to attend.
(With inputs from ANI, NDTV and The News Minute)
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