Task force to tap down water mafia

High Court directs Centre to ensure compliance of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms

The genie is out of the bottleu00a0 and mineral water racketeers better watch out! The Centre is all set to constitute a task force to oversee the process of selling and manufacturing of bottled water in the Capital.

The Delhi High Court has directed that the task force will be constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, comprising representatives of the department of Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Delhi government and Delhi police.

Incidentally, MiD DAY last month exposed a huge racket in which packaged water mafia in Delhi was engaged in passing off simple tap water as top brand bottled water.

Justice S Muralidhar said: "The task force will coordinate amongst the various departments and constitute special crack units, which will undertake surprise checks at various locations of manufacturers of packaged drinking water and initiate strict action in terms of the provisions contained under the PFA as well as the BIS Act." The court also made it clear that time was of the essence.

The HC was hearing a petition filed by Bottled Water Processors Association where the complainant alleged that authorities had not taken any action against seven illegal units involved in manufacturing and supply of bottled drinking water, by flouting norms stipulated under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) and the BIS Act.

Earlier, on the direction ofu00a0 the Delhi HC, the Delhi government began a crackdown on illegal units manufacturing packaged drinking water in the Capital. Health Minister Kiran Walia issued orders to conduct raids at all units manufacturing packaged drinking water without any approval from the government.

"It's the season of water-borne diseases. So citizens should be careful while buying packaged water. We should examine whether the manufacturer is a license holder or not. This is mentioned on the cover. We should also check whether the company has BIS certification," the minister said.

MiD DAY had exposed howu00a0 thugs operated in business areas like Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place and Munirka and delivered 20-litre water cans.u00a0 During the investigation, it was found that spurious water from bottles of local brands is transferred to the empty top brand cans. From one can the racketeers earn a profit of Rs 60 to 70.