JOIN USA majority of the buyers of the 30 lakh cases of packaged water being sold in a month in the State are in Bangalore. But there’s no guarantee on the quality of water, with unauthorised supply units mushrooming by the day across the City.
According to law, manufacturers of packaged drinking water (other than natural drinking water) are required to acquire an ISI certification and licence issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). As many as 950 illegal units are operating in and around the City, said Jedemurthy Bennur of Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers’ Association (Karnataka). But there are only 108 BIS licensed units in the State.
Besides, violation of trademark by the unauthorised units has also become a cause for concern, Bennur said.
The Association alleged that the health department had not taken appropriate action to check unauthorised water dealers.
According to an officer of the BIS Bangalore Branch, the bureau has the power to check only the quality of packaged water licensed units per day that produce 170-180 units in the State, of which 70 per cent is in Bangalore.
The ISI certification and licence are valid for only a year and the units have to re-apply to continue production before the BIS conducts an audit of their performance.
The licences of four units in Karnataka — two in Bangalore — were cancelled in 2010. Two units from Bangalore have been restricted from using the ISI mark on their labels.
Licences of four companies have expired, said the online licence update of the BIS.
One of the reasons for less punitive action against illegal packaged water manufacturing units is that few people complain about it.
“Most people are not aware with whom to register the complaint,” said S N Nanjundaiah, chief chemist, Public Health Institute (PHI), the only government laboratory that tests samples of packaged water.
According to him, they usually receive samples from railway inspectors, health and food inspectors. PHI has analysed 10 samples since January. The institute analysed 36, 35 and 33 samples in 2010, 2009 and 2008, respectively. Four litres of water is required to test one sample.
Licence procedure
The units have to send their samples to one of the five BIS approved laboratories in the State every month. If the samples fail the test, the licence of the unit will be suspended. The units cannot use the ISI mark on their labels till their samples pass the test.
Even the approved laboratories are audited every year with BIS accreditation renewal every three years.
The manufacturers are required to print the batch number, the date of manufacture and the expiry date on their label.
The 20-litre cans have an expiry period of three months, while the smaller lot have an expiry period of six months.