Centre to enact law on unsealed water sale

Nagpur: The central government will enact a law to curb the sale of unsafe and unsealed water. The law will come into effect from January 1, said Girish Bapat, food and civil supplies minister, in the legislative council on Friday.

NCP MLC Prakash Gajbhiye had raised this issue during the question hour.

Gajbhiye said unsealed water was being sold on a large scale in Nagpur. "In wedding receptions and other such functions, such water is supplied and the consumers drink it as they have no choice. This water is of worse quality than that supplied by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). The civic agency supplies water of good quality," he said.

The MLC further said in outer areas, water is supplied through tankers, which is many times very turbid. "The tanker owners draw water from wells and supply it without any treatment. In one case, the tanker was found to have a two-feet thick layer of earth," he added.

Bapat admitted that the quality of unsealed water sold in cans was very poor. "We have registered 80 cases against these suppliers many times but now the Centre has asked us to stop it as it is bringing in a new law," he said.

The city has hundreds, probably thousands, of water manufacturing units that are selling 'drinking' water in chilled cans and jars. But the containers are unpackaged and unsealed, the units are unhygienic and unmonitored and the water not tested regularly.

Moreover, the units are operating without licences from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) or Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which are mandatory for selling packaged drinking water.

In April this year, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court had directed the state government to act against those selling packaged drinking water in unsealed containers. A month later, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Nagpur division, sent closure notices to about seven units of the region, selling unpackaged drinking water without mandatory licences.

According to experts, groundwater is the major source for most of the unpackaged water manufacturing units. As there are good chances of groundwater contamination, mainly through sewage, it is very important to treat it scientifically at different stages.