Of the over 4,000 manufacturers of packaged drinking water in the State, only 415 have the all important ‘ISI’ stamp certifying that the product is fit for consumption. In cities like Bangalore, where a big chunk of residents remain off the pipe water grid and depend on packaged water, this revelation by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) becomes particularly significant.
All packaged water – whether in bottles, canisters or packets – has to meet 104 requirements before being certified by the BIS with an ‘ISI’ stamp. Samples have to clear tests for several types of pesticides, microbiological contamination, heavy metals and other chemicals.
While it is illegal for any packaged drinking water manufacturer to operate without a BIS certification, “most manufacturers have not applied for a licence,” said A.K. Bhatnagar, head of BIS, Bangalore branch. So large is the packaged water industry in the State (located mostly in and around the city) that monitoring these manufacturers has become “the main focus” of the national standards body, Mr. Bhatnagar said at a press conference on Friday.
Packaged water is among 95 types of products for which a BIS certification for quality and safety is compulsory. The other products that require mandatory BIS certification include baby food, electrical home appliances, automobile parts, medical appliances and gas cylinders, none of which cannot be stored or sold without a BIS licence.
Another group of products require only ‘voluntary testing’, such as gold jewellery.
In 2001, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare enforced quality control for packaged drinking water and natural mineral water, bringing them under Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, and under the Compulsory Certification Scheme.
The lack of consumer awareness about drinking water certification makes matters tougher for the Bureau to track down illegal entities, said Mr. Bhatnagar.
Also, while BIS is authorised to monitor and certify products, it cannot enforce the law, he said, adding that they have, however, referred several cases of unlicenced manufacturers to the regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Water manufacturing companies have also been booked for using the ISI stamp without a licence, he said.
BIS, in 1987, took over the functions of Indian Standards Institution (ISI) in implementing national standards for various consumer goods. The ‘certification mark’, however, remains ‘ISI’.
