Nine packaged drinking water units shut down in Mysuru

Four other units that were in the process of getting licences were asked to stop production and sale till they obtained certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards.

As many as nine packaged drinking water units which were functioning without possessing mandatory ISI certification in Mysuru district have been closed down. Four other units, which had applied for ISI certification and were in the process of getting them, were asked to stop production and sale of their products until they obtained certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

S. Chidambar, designated officer for Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and district vector-borne diseases officer, and other officials conducted an enforcement search a few days ago and found that nine units were functioning without the ISI certification.

Licences mandatory

Disclosing this to

The Hindu, Dr. Chidambar said that apart from functioning illegally, the units were not following prescribed procedure in preparing good quality packaged drinking water.

The owners of the units were asked to close down their units and were warned of dire consequences if they attempted to re-open the same in the future, he said. He cautioned that action would be initiated against the units under Section 33 of Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986, if they were found indulging in carrying out their businesses illegally.

Licences from BIS and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) are prerequisites to run a packaged drinking water plant, he said.

Laboratory tests

Dr. Chidambar said that apart from having treatment machinery like reverse osmosis units, carbon filters and sand filters, the plants must have also laboratories that are extremely important to check the potability of water after processing. The owners of the plant should conduct tests of each batch of processed water in their laboratories and in other laboratories too at regular intervals, he said.

Health hazard

A spurt in the demand for processed drinking water has resulted in proliferation of packaged drinking water plants. The plants were set up by individuals to make easy money. Substandard quality of water manufactured by such units may pose a grave threat to people’s health, Dr. Chidambar said.

Dr. Chidambar said that borewell water is the only water that should be used for manufacturing packaged drinking water, and river water, open well water or water supplied by civic bodies should not be used for this purpose. He also appealed to the people not to buy packaged drinking water unless they find the ISI certification and FSSAI number.

He instructed hotels, bakeries, bars and restaurants not to sell packaged drinking water without ISI certifications and FSSAI numbers. There are other 32 manufacturing units functioning in Mysuru district with certification from BIS, he said.