At 1.80 lakh litres, 'Rail Neer' bottling plant at Ambernath supplies largest drinking water consignment to the Railways. Now with the plastic ban coming into effect in the state, the rail authorities are looking at alternatives. At present, the 80-lakh rail passengers either buy 1 litre bottled water of Rail Neer or use water vending machines, which also provide water in plastic glasses.

Sources said each day, the stations on Central Railway requires 45,893 litres of water while the Western Railway stations need 37,447 litres of water. Apart from this, the Ambernath plant also supplies 7,056 litres to smaller stations on the Harbour line, beyond Kalyan towards Kasara and Karjat and other stations on CR.

"This is the quantum that is mandatory to be supplied all through the year. This is a huge number as it will ideally mean that we will have to replace 1 litre plastic bottles on such a large scale," said a CR official.

The authorities in Railway Board accept that the non-availability of 500-ml bottled water is making it all the more troublesome for consumers.

The rail authorities have also removed the bottle crushing machines installed at railway stations which in a period of 11 months had recycled 6 lakh plastic bottles. DNA had earlier reported about Railways wanting to replace the plastic glasses used for WVMs, plates and spoons provided to passengers of long-distance trains.

"We are looking at replacing these plastic glasses, plates and spoons with those made of cardboard and paper. We have already asked the vendors to stop bulk buying of plastic materials and instead look for alternatives," said a rail official.

Mumbaikars reportedly consume 15,000 litres every day from these machines. Each EVM has a capacity of 200-400 litres of water and requires 300-500 plastic glasses. The price for refilling is Re 1, Rs 3, Rs 5, Rs 8 and Rs 20 for 300 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre, 2 litres and 5 litres of water respectively.