Out on a limb

All hands are out, desperate for water. The place is a city bus stand, and passengers make no bones about their hurry to get at a sachet.

In several cases, the passengers have no means of finding out whether the sachets contain tested water. There are many who are using the relatively inexpensive technology of producing sachets, and vending plain piped water, at a rupee or two each. By contrast, the Meenambakkam Airport and Chennai Central, which also receive heavy crowds at both terminals, have better branded bottled and sachet water facilities.

The next time you pick up a sachet, look at where it comes from, and whether it has a phone number. Otherwise, you could be drinking plain city tap water, which has not been boiled to boot.

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Section  : Features
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