Bureau of Indian Standards asks its office in Pune to investigate RTI activist's charge that a majority of the cement pipes used in various parts of the city by the civic body bear forged versions of the symbol of quality
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has taken serious note of the complaint by RTI activist Satyasheel Jagdale seriously and issued a letter to its Pune office for making further inquiries into the alleged case of counterfeit storm water pipes used by Pune Municipal Corporation at various places in the city.
OP Dahiya, enforcement officer, BIS, Delhi, replying to Jagdale, said, “The complaint has been forwarded to the bureau office in Pune for further probe o the issue.”
Not up to the mark: Cement pipes for storm water drains, lying on the road, with allegedly forged ISI mark. File Pic
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The officer has also sought details of the manufacturers who had supplied these pipes to PMC. MiD DAY had reported the issue on December 25 (‘PMC using storm water pipes with bogus ISI mark: Activist’).
Jagdale had alleged that PMC was using cement pipes with phoney ISI marks for storm water drains at various spots in Sadashiv Peth and other areas. The activist had expressed doubt that a majority of the pipes were of inferior quality, as only a few of them had the authentic ISI mark with proper code number. I am sure that BIS will act quickly as per their promise.
Jagdale said, “The BIS mark (ISI) is a symbol of quality and has established its brand image over the last six decades to make the consumer more aware. Being a stakeholder, I raised the issue with BIS by sending a formal written complaint vial email on December 24, 2012.
I am sure under section 11, 12 and 26 of the BIS Act, appropriate action will be taken. I have already contacted BIS officer u00a0N D Deshmukh to pursue the issue at a priority level.”u00a0
The other side
Pramod Nirbhawane, additional commissioner (roads), PMC, had earlier rejected the charges. “We place orders to different manufacturers for the cement pipes used for storm water drainage purposes. The routine works going on at ward-level. There is no question of any substandard material being used for storm water drainage, as we have our own quality-checking system in place, including third party inspection. We shall certainly verify the quality of used pipes and ISI mark on each of them,” he had said. Vivek Kharwadkar, additional city engineer, PMC, said, “Storm water drainage work is in progress at 19 places in the city and suburbs. PMC had approved a total sum of Rs 180 crore for the entire project, earmarked for the year 2012-13. For the suburban part of the laying down of pipes, we have appointed two contractors – M B Patil and Patel Engineers – and are also making regular assessment of the quality of these pipes.
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