Madhavaram resident’s thirst for innovation

At a bus stop near Madhavaram junction on Grand Northern Trunk (GNT) Road, stands a five-foot-tall iron mesh cage. Inside, there are two mud pots with bubble top cans mounted on them.

S. Kathiravan, a resident of the locality and the owner of a small-scale unit, located 100 metres from the bus stop, has installed the free drinking water facility for the benefit of commuters and passersby.

(Kathiravan has in fact installed two iron-mesh structures with water pots at two bus stops near the junction, one meant for buses headed towards Red Hills and other for those headed towards Moolakadai.)

The absence of petty shops offering packaged drinking water led Kathiravan to offer this service.

He is running this service for five years on the trot, without giving it a break even during monsoon.

“The steel mesh is aimed at protecting the pots and water cans from getting stolen or damaged. Initially, we kept mud pots in the open near the bus stop. But, the pots were damaged by miscreants,” says Kathiravan.

The steel mesh enclosure is locked, and people have access to the water in the pots through taps jutting out the mesh.

There are two stainless-steel tumblers chained to the mesh.

Around 7 a.m. every day, the five empty bubble water cans from the previous day are replaced. Two of them are used to fill up the water pots inside.

And the other three are kept inside the mesh to be used later.

Every one hour, a staff from Kathiravan’s unit visits the bus stop to check if a bubble can has to be replaced. As an additional measure, two mobile phone numbers of the staff are displayed at the bus stop so that commuters can alert Kathiravan when the pots have become empty.

Near the Madhavaram junction,

“We have a plan to offer this service at major bus stops in Moolakadai and Red Hills too, from 2019,” says Kathiravan.

It may be noted that the police have installed a water pot at an underpass-junction below the Chennai Bypass, primarily for the benefit of police personnel patrolling the section round-the-clock.

“Not everyone will carry a water bottle with them, especially while travelling for a short distance. So, such free water services at bus stops should be welcomed,” says S. Vanmathi, a commuter from Perambur.