Water ATMs, bottle crushing machines installed in Heritage Street lying defunct

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, July 13

Water ATMs and bottle crushing machines installed in the Heritage Street by the Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) have been lying defunct for a long time. At present, these defunct machines are being used as bins by visitors. Garbage is strewn around machines as the area has not been cleaned by civic body workers. Moreover, defunct machines pose hurdles in the movement of visitors on footpaths.

The MC had installed 10 water ATMs near the Golden Temple in 2020 at the cost of Rs 1.35 crore to provide potable water to devotees. Ten polyethylene terephthalate bottle crushing machines were also installed in the Heritage Street. The cost of one polyethylene terephthalate bottle crushing machine was Rs 5 lakh and total cost of the project was Rs 50 lakh. These machines were installed to create awareness about waste disposal under the civic body’s Smart City Project.

The bottle crushing machines stopped functioning soon after installation as people were not aware about their use. Only a few visitors used to crush bottles in machines. Touch screens were installed on the machines for giving commands, but these were not clearly visible during the day time due to sunlight.

The water ATM project of the MC was appreciated by devotees as they used to get water for drinking while heading towards the Golden Temple. But there were some issues in the use of machines. Visitors had to directly drink water from the taps installed on the machines . A lot of mess was created around machines due to spilling of water. These machines have been lying defunct for the last two years.

“The civic body does not have funds for the repair and maintenance of water ATMs. These machines need regular maintenance. The MC should ensure that these machines function,” said Anil Mahajan, a shopkeeper.

Ravinder Singh, a resident, said, “The MC should remove these machines from the footpath to make space for the movement of visitors. Instead of water ATMs, the traditional “Chabeel” should be set up here.”