Hyderabad, May 2: Tea is the first thing that majority of Indians prefer having in the morning. We have all heard about bed tea. But a video showing Indian Railways Canteen employees mixing or using toilet water in tea kettles proves that trains may be selling what can be called as "Toilet Tea". As disgusting as this may sound, the video will make one never touch or buy a cup of tea in Indian trains. A video posted on Twitter shows Indian Railway Canteen employees in a train filling water from the toilet. A vending contractor has been slapped with a fine of Rs one lakh by the Railways after a video surfaced suggesting mix of water from a train toilet in tea/coffee, the South Central Railway (SCR) here.

In the video in circulation in social media in the past few days, a vendor was seen coming out of a train toilet with tea/coffee cans, conveying that water was being mixed in the cans inside the toilet, it said.

The incident had occurred in December last year onboard Chennai Central Hyderabad Charminar Express at Secunderabad railway station here, a release said days after the video surfaced and went viral.

"An inquiry was conducted, and on the basis of it stringent action has been taken up against the Train Side Vending contractor for the section between Secunderabad and Kazipet, P Sivaprasad, with whom the identified vendor in the video was employed. A penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been levied on the licensee, through the IRCTC, the contracting agency," SCR Chief Public Relations Officer M Umashankar Kumar said in the release. "Two other persons seen in the video were unauthorised hawkers, he added.

The Commercial Department of the SCR has been carrying out extensive drives against unauthorised hawking at Secunderabad railway station in the last few months, during which all such hawkers, including the two involved in the incident, had been removed, Kumar said. A strict vigil was continuously being kept at various levels to ensure that no such incidents recur in the SCR Zone, the official added.

Strict action must be taken to set an example for those indulging in acts that threaten the health of people and damages the reputation of Indian Railways. Such irresponsible and malicious act can have no justification and is simply done to earn quick money. In this case, it was done only to get rid of the work without any care for passengers wellbeing.  (With Inputs from PTI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 02, 2018 10:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).