After scripting a turnaround in the fortunes of the Indian Railways, union minister Lalu Prasad has now envisioned the prospect of utilising surplus water from various rivers using large pipes for the country's 24,000-km railway tracks. "The railways is like an empire, it is a league apart, its vast network criss-crossing across the country can help the government in water management," said the minister, who was in Malaysia to witness the signing of a railway double track contract awarded to public sector company IRCON by the Malaysian government. He noted that surplus water from rivers during seasonal floods flowed to adjoining countries and states causing havoc."If we are able to connect all rivers like a garland from various points along its path and let it flow through pipes along the tracks, it can be diverted to areas which need water," he told. "While projects like dam constructions have lead to major protests in the past as they involve acquiring of land from native people, this process will not require land acquisition as railways own the land alongside its running tracks", he added. "We can float global tenders to invest in laying the pipes and sell water at a nominal cost. This can be an additional source of revenue for the Railways," said Lalu, who flew to Malaysia from Singapore after delivering a lecture at the prestigious management institute Instead.