WATERLESS SUMMER HAS CHENNAI WORRIED

POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD TO CONTINUE RAIDS, CORPN WILL HELP TEST WATER 

     The pollution control board’s crackdown on illegal water packaging units may have been long overdue but, for the 20 lakh families that depend on the bubbletop cans, the timing could not have been more inopportune.
    Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has over the past 10 days shut down operations at 103 units, or around 35% of all packaged water manufacturers in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, and has promised to take action against other unauthorised units in the city.
    A senior TNPCB official said the board was acting on an order from the National Green Tribunal. The tribunal directed the board to take action against unauthorised units — those that were functioning without the consent of board. “We will carry out more raids in the coming days,” he said.
    “Water packaging units have to receive consent from the board under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,” a TNPCB environment engineer said. But residents are worried they
will not have water to drink in the peak of summer. “What Metrowater and private tankers supply is unfit to drink,” said Sajan Xavier, who lives off Anna Salai. “Because of the strike some retailers are charging a premium for water cans they have in stock.”
    Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association said the units that were shut down followed all the norms required to ensure the water they supply is potable. “We supply purified groundwater without adding chemicals. None of our BIS-certified units cause pollution,” said association patron V Murali. “The pollution control board’s allegation that the units are letting out sewage is false.”
    “It is not possible for all units to have 2.5 acres of land as the guidelines stipulate,” he said. “This kind of action will affect small-scale manufacturers and help multinational firms. The government should interfere and revolve the issue.”
    A TNPCB official who conducted checks at the units that were shut down refuted the association patron’s claims. “Most of the units operated out of congested rooms with no facilities for purification.” he said.
    While the TNPCB has promised to continue to take action against unauthorised units, officials of the state food safety department and Chennai Corporation said they will test water samples from across the city for contamination. They are likely to be accompanied by health officials from corporation, which will provide the food safety department vehicles, manpower and testing equipment.
    The civic body has begun testing quality of water being supplied by Metrowater. “We check for residual chlorine levels and brackishness which is a straightforward test,” a corporation official said. “Residual chlorine kills most harmful bacteria.”
    “We have asked our officers to conduct joint raids with the food safety department. We will collect samples and test them in our labs,” he said.
IF YOUR WATER IS UNSAFE, CALL TNPCB: 044-26268603 BIS: 044-22541442 Food safety department: 044-23813095 Chennai Corporation: 1913 Metrowater: 044-45674567

Experts fear that contaminated water will flood city shops

    The water you buy from your neighbourhood grocer is probably full of disease-causing bacteria packaged in an illegal manufacturing unit. Among the contaminants that regularly show up in laboratory tests are fecal coliform like E. coli that causes diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and gastric diseases. Some of the pathogens can lead to infections of the lungs, liver, kidneys, nervous system and skin. The water may also have bacteria that cause cholera and typhoid.
    Corporation health officials say the indefinite strike by BIS-certified packaged manufacturing units over the closure of 103 units by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board could have a deadly fallout. “The strike may result in a proliferation of unregistered packaged water units,” an official said. “These units are likely to start operations in a hurry to make the most of the situation. They are unlikely to pay any attention to hygiene.”
    With the Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association in no mood to relent, the strike could
continue for a prolonged period. Association patron V Murali said the board had sealed only BIS-certified units. “These are authorised units,” he said. “There are hundreds of illegal manufacturers across the city. If our strike continues, unlicensed units will flood the market with contaminated water and cause public health problems.”
    Public health experts say the water cans manufactured even by licenced units are often dirty, overused and damaged. “Some illegal operators fill branded bubbletop cans with water from borewells,” an expert said. “Some units use tap water and follow unsafe storage practices. A can should not be refilled more than 35 times, but nobody bothers about how many times a can is refilled.”
    Consumer rights activists point out that there is no mechanism to keep a check on illegal manufacturing units. Consumer rights activist R Desikan says most illegal manufacturing units draw water from borewells in agricultural land which is against the rules. “Water taken from agricultural land should not be used for commercial purposes,” he said. “The authorities failed to take any action against this illegal practice for a long time.” Sources say close to 45% of all water packaging units in the city are unlicensed. Some firms set up shop only during summer, when demand peaks.