Are you paying for dirty water?

If you are one of those people who buys drinking water cans from private suppliers and are lulled into a sense of security with the untarnished seal on it and the OK mark proclaiming its good quality, you’re in for a rude shock. Most of these private providers are supplying contaminated water and are even operating their water plants illegally and without proper equipment to purify water. The appaling facts came to light when Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) decided to raid some of these bottled water plants and test the quality of water supplied by them. The findings were far from pleasant. “A few teams comprising food inspectors and senior officials of the Health and Sanitation wing of GHMC inspected various water plants. We found that more than 200 packed drinking water packaging units are supplying contaminated drinking water on payment basis to customers while utilising the ISI standard mark illegally,” S Aleem Basha, additional commissioner, Health and Sanitation, GHMC told City Express. GHMC found a private water plant located near the RTC crossroads and supplying water cans and packets to offices and for domestic purposes being run illegally. In another incident, based on public complaint, GHMC officials seized ‘Salvo Safe drinking’ unit located in Secunderabad as they supplied contaminated bottled water to its customers at a high price. The officials seized at least 12 drinking water plants in the twin cities. Aleem Basha said that they would crack the whip on these illegal water plants.With the dry summer setting in with its impending shortage of regular water supply by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), illegal water packaging centres and plants are mushrooming in the twin cities.  It is reported that residents in twin cities and its suburbs pay for at least 6 lakh litres of bottled water every day. Out of this as many as 3 lakh litres of bottled water supplied do not conform to the required standards and are reportedly contaminated. Meanwhile, Dr K Devaraj, Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), GHMC said that illegal companies were cashing in on the demand for bottled water, which has gone up due to frequent outbreaks of gastroenteritis, cholera and other diseases in summer. “Residents are not thinking about the health hazards of drinking contaminated water and are proffering to purchase bottled drinking water at high prices due to water shortage.   However the Bureau of Indian Standards said that there are also bona-fide packed drinking water units which have obtained licenses from the BIS and GHMC.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com