Public fridge at Hubballi station in K'taka to avoid food wastage

In a bid to prevent wastage of food and feed the needy, the railways has installed a public refrigerator at Hubballi railway station in Karnataka.

Officials said the stored food will be for anyone who needs it.

The fridge is six-foot-tall with four racks in which two racks are for cooked meal and the other two are for fruits and vegetables, they said.

"The purpose of this public fridge is that the surplus /excess food of passengers at stations shall be stored so that it can be used by needy instead of people throwing it away," an official said, adding that the cost of the fridge is Rs 80,000.

"Passengers who have extra food which is surplus to their requirement , can leave the eatables in this fridge. The needy and poor people can take benefit of having food from this fridge free of cost," he said.

A notice has also been put up on the fridge requesting passengers not to keep non-vegetarian items and eatables which are likely to become stale.

The food plaza at Hubballi railway station has also been requested to supply food items for the fridge as and when surplus amount is available.

The South Western Railway (SWR) is also making efforts to contact NGOs in this regard.

The initiative has been received well by the public as around 100 people have used the fridge in the last three days, the officials said.