BHUBANESWAR: Rauli — a small railway station in the hilly, tribal-dominated Rayagada district — has made the most of its scanty resources and overcome a major challenge — lack of potable water . The Waltair division of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) zone has installed a machine that converts ambient air into water by passing it over a condenser, and this has ensured that Rauli is now no longer a water-deficit station The machine that has brought about this transformation — an Atmospheric Moisture Extractor — has cost the ECoR slightly more than Rs 2 lakh. It draws water from the atmosphere and passes it over a condenser. The water vapour in the air is extracted by cooling it below its dew point. Later, the vapour is transformed into water. Named Akash Ganga, the project is the first of its kind within the railways, the ECoR has said.“This area has a peculiar problem. There is little potable water here but the moisture quantity in the air is high. Hence, the machine yields a good output. The station harvests 120 litres per day normally,” said K D Rao, additional divisional railway manager of the Waltair division.He added that the machine’s energy consumption per litre is 0.35 to 0.40 kW and it needs minimum electricity. “The innovative idea has been appreciated by one and all and it is a big relief for both staff and passengers using Rauli station,” he added.The Waltair division — one of the three railway divisions of the ECoR — worked on the project after being asked to look for alternate sources of water by zonal general manager Umesh Singh during an inspection in March this year. The water extractor was installed on April 25.Before the installation of the machine, the station had to depend on stream water to meet its needs. Moreover, the water collected from the source of the hill streams was unfit for drinking. “Several attempts were made to install a tube well at the station, but we could not succeed because of the rocky terrain near the station,” said Rao.The station, located near Rauli village under Kashipur block of the district, 460 km away from Bhubaneswar, comes between Lilliguma and Tikri stations on the Koraput-Rayagada section. Three trains — Hirakhand Express, Koraput-Sambalpur passenger and Visakhapatnam-Koraput passenger — have daily stops here.

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