Nilgiris starts replacing old water ATMs

UDHAGAMANDALAM: As part of its initiative to replace old and non-functional water ATMs that cannot be repaired, the Nilgiris district administration on Tuesday installed five water ATMs at tourist spots in partnership with Bisleri International Private Limited. The five water ATMs are installed at the Ooty Lake, RCTC building, Mariamman Temple Road, Commercial Street and 9th Mile Shooting Spot. District collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru, who inaugurated the ATM at the Ooty Lake, said five more ATMs would also be installed in the town in partnership with the State Bank of India. She said self-help groups (SHGs), identified by the district administration, would oversee the operation of the five ATMs while the company would handle maintenance. Lakshmi handed over the keys of the water ATMs to five SHGs.According to Lakshmi, out of the 93 ATMs in the Nilgiris, 38 are currently out of order. “As the sale of one-litre and two-litre packaged water bottles is banned in the Nilgiris, we are implementing this to ensure that tourists have access to purified water. In the first phase, we will install 10 water ATMs, with five being established in partnership with Bisleri International Pvt Ltd and the remaining five with the State Bank of India,” said the collector.“After assessing the performance of the newly installed ATMs, we will take further action to provide additional units,” Lakshmi stated.A feature of these water ATMs is that they utilise QR codes for payment. Half a litre of water is sold for Rs 5, while one litre costs Rs 10.