GURGAON: Forget tap water, if you thought packaged drinking water was safe in the city, think twice. Though only four samples of packaged drinking water were collected by the food safety department from two units in Gurgaon in the last three years, analysis showed that all were unfit for consumption, a Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed.
"The cases were reported and they are now before the court of chief judicial magistrate," said the RTI reply by the food safety officer of Gurgaon.
A separate RTI reply has brought to light the fact that the district pollution control department of Gurgaon has not taken any action or issued any notice to a single water supplier for not maintaining the quality of drinking water in the last five years.
To make it worse, no new permission or licence has been granted to process, operate and fill bottled drinking water in the past five years, the district pollution control board said in its reply to Aseem Takyar, an activist.
"When the pipeline water fails to meet the drinking water requirements of the city dwellers especially in the commercial and industrial areas, people have no choice but to rely on packaged drinking water. But, the authorities have not collected any sample in the past three years barring two. This clearly shows how unsafe the drinking water could be," Takyar said.
In residential colonies, people tend to use the piped water but only after treating it through RO (reverse osmosis) technology.
"In DLF areas, most people use the water supplied by HUDA but it is treated by the RO system installed in most houses as people are not sure about the quality and in the offices, bottled water is used," said Sudhir Kapoor, secretary general of DLF City RWA, Gurgaon. No one from the food safety office could be contacted, despite repeated attempts.
"The cases were reported and they are now before the court of chief judicial magistrate," said the RTI reply by the food safety officer of Gurgaon.
A separate RTI reply has brought to light the fact that the district pollution control department of Gurgaon has not taken any action or issued any notice to a single water supplier for not maintaining the quality of drinking water in the last five years.
To make it worse, no new permission or licence has been granted to process, operate and fill bottled drinking water in the past five years, the district pollution control board said in its reply to Aseem Takyar, an activist.
"When the pipeline water fails to meet the drinking water requirements of the city dwellers especially in the commercial and industrial areas, people have no choice but to rely on packaged drinking water. But, the authorities have not collected any sample in the past three years barring two. This clearly shows how unsafe the drinking water could be," Takyar said.
In residential colonies, people tend to use the piped water but only after treating it through RO (reverse osmosis) technology.
"In DLF areas, most people use the water supplied by HUDA but it is treated by the RO system installed in most houses as people are not sure about the quality and in the offices, bottled water is used," said Sudhir Kapoor, secretary general of DLF City RWA, Gurgaon. No one from the food safety office could be contacted, despite repeated attempts.
Unbelievable to hear this.
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